Although Greg’s log book doesn’t record any joyriding flights after the armistice, it is hard to believe that he didn’t take any. Actually, joyrides were officially sanctioned, no doubt because it was important for airmen to keep their flying skills in trim. They had to police the armistice, and to be ready for any resumption of hostilities. After all, an armistice was not a peace treaty.
Joyriding Orders
Despite the absence of log book entries, we do have a couple of undated pages of the B Flight Orders book to work with. One of them contains official orders on joyriding. The other – more on which below – is distinctly unofficial. From its position between two dated pages, we can pin the page of official orders down to sometime between 11 November and 2 December. All other things being equal, it is more likely than not that the orders were in force by today.
— Joyriding—
Two machines per flight are allowed to joyride every day.
They may go anywhere within reason, provided that —
1. They land on an aerodrome.
2. They return to the Squadron before dusk. Anyone staying out overnight will be severely dealt with.
N.B. Marquise & places at that distance are not within reason.
C. E. Gregory, Lt.
for O.C. B Flight
“Marquise & Places at that Distance”
Marquise is near the coast, between Boulogne and Calais. It was by this stage where No. 1 ASD was based (see the post for 3 June 1918). We don’t know whether this page in the B Flight Orders book was written before or after the move from Marquain to Aulnoy on 25 November 1918. But in either event, Marquise was at some distance: 72 miles (116 km) from Marquain and 86 miles (138 km) from Aulnoy.
Presumably flying east over the armistice line was verboten. But even so, when flying west there were still plenty of places to choose from. Although day trips to the seaside were clearly out, the following places may well have been considered ‘within reason’.
Rely (54 miles, 87 km from Aulnoy)
Aire-sur-la-Lys (54 miles, 87 km)
Villers-Bretonneux (54 miles, 87 km)
Trèzennes (52 miles, 84 km)
Ypres (45 miles, 73 km)
Merville (44 miles, 71 km)
Chocques (44 miles, 71 km)
Lille (29 miles, 47 km)
Ascq (25 miles, 41 km)
Additionally, a good deal of what for much of the war had been the British and German front lines – as well as no-man’s land in between them – would have been within 30-60 miles (50-100 km) of Aulnoy.
Several of the photographs in Greg’s collection were undated, and may have resulted from joyrides in this post-armistice period. Some have already been published in the blog, on significant days for the locations concerned or for 42 Squadron. They include:
Villers-Bretonneux
(What look like freshly dug trenches in the oblique aerial view of this post suggest an earlier date than after the armistice. But the undated photograph is included here for completeness.)
Other undated aerial photographs in the collection will be posted in the coming days and weeks.
The Unofficial Joyriding Rules
A little later – probably after 3 December 1918 – a page of unofficial joyriding rules appeared in Greg’s B Flight Orders book. Despite its probable later date, this seems the best time to release it.
Joy Riding
Officers are forbidden:-
(1) To take ‘bints’ in the buses.
(2) Drop bombs on the Officers’ Mess.
(3) Nose dive at less than 100 feet.
(4) Make ascents in bathing costumes.
(5) Take more than 3 bottles of whisky at once into the air.
(6) Return to aerodrome without observer.
(7) Drop empty bottles near GHQ.
Unlike the other entries in the B Flight Orders book, this doesn’t seem to be a carbon copy. So it’s unlikely that anyone posted a top copy onto a notice board. It’s even less likely that this list was compiled without a liberal quantity of alcoholic inspiration!
Today was the day of the liberation of Lille. It was a momentous day for the populace, when the British Fifth Army under General Birdwood entered the city. It was also significant day for Greg: he records for the first time that he was reconnoitring east of Lille, near and around the Fort du Vinage. He noted the destructive trail left by the withdrawing German army, and he reported the newly established German line south of Roubaix.
Log Book
Date: 17.10.18
Time Out: 14.10
Rounds Fired – Lewis: -
Rounds Fired – Vickers: -
Bombs: -
Time on RE8s: 173 hrs 35 mins
RE8: E27
Observer: Scarterfield
War Flying: 2 hrs 15 mins
Height: 2000
Course/Remarks: Reconn. 5000x E of Lille
5000x E of Lille
There is a bit of a puzzle in the log book entry: what does the x denote?
The first issue is what letter it actually is. I have transcribed it as a superscripted ‘x’, as that seems to me to be the most likely option. But it could, just conceivably, be a ‘t’. But in that case, what might a ‘t’ stand for? From the Squadron Record Book (SRB), extracted below, we can establish definitively that it doesn’t mean British troops. The entry clearly states: “No British troops seen East of Lille”. And although German troops east of Lille would be unremarkable, the SRB merely refers to a “few odd German infantry with civilians on road…” The same reasoning would also rule out tanks (if the quantity of 5,000 hadn’t ruled them out anyway).
But in any event, the superscript looks more like an ‘x’ than a ‘t’. And it is hard to think of a plausible word beginning with an ‘x’ that it might stand for.
So what else might ‘x’ mean?
Might it indicate height? 5,000 ft is certainly a reasonable height for an RE8 to fly at. But on this occasion both the log book and the SRB tell us that Greg flew no higher than 2,000 ft. So that’s not it.
My working hypothesis is that ‘x’ indicates distance, specifically yards, on the ground. The maps that Greg was working with all had numbered 1,000 yard sub-squares, within 6,000 yard lettered squares. (See the article on Counter-Battery Patrols for an explanation of how the map reference system worked.) So pilots would be well used to gauging distances in 1,000 yard units. Given the locations that Greg reported on in that patrol (from the SRB again), it is likely that he was flying some five map sub-squares east of Lille, which is to say 5,000 yards east of the city. But even if this is the correct explanation, I don’t know why he wrote ‘5000x‘ and not ‘5000 yds’. Any suggestions or alternative explanations welcome.
Squadron Record Book
Squadron Record Book. Click for larger image.
Type and Number: R.E.8.27
Pilot and Observer: P. Lt Gregory. O. Lt Scarterfield
Duty: Reconnaissance
Hour of Start: 1410
Hour of Return: 1625
Remarks: FIRES at the following places:-
Farm F.25.d.4.5
Houses K.6.a.4.6
Factory Q.1.b.0.4
" K.20.d.5.0
" K.15.central.)
" K.2.c.0.5 ) Commenced during patrol.
Enemy trench system in wood at L.22.a.&.b. apparently unoccupied; full of water.
Few odd German Infantry with civilians on road L.15.d.& L.16.a.
BRIDGE destroyed at:-
Railway over road at L.13.d.4.5.
" " " K.24.d.6.4.
" " " K.23.d.9.3.
" " " K.22.b.6.9.
All bridges and locks on Eastern water defences [see below] of LILLE destroyed.
EXPLOSIONS at:-
1534. K.5.c.6.8. (Apparently dump)
1535. F.26.a.Central.
Large fires burning in LANNOY and on Eastern outskirts of ROUBAIX.
Bridges along river from L.9 to L.29 all destroyed.
Forts BABYLON, du VINAGE, & de MONS [en BAROEUL] occupied lightly by patrols.
Fired at with rifles from FORT DU VINAGE. [see below]
1530. Two civilians at Fort roads [sic: cross-roads?] at K.18.central, proceeding from direction of ROUBAIX to LILLE.
No British troops seen East of LILLE.
Enemy outposts appear to be holding a line roughly running though L.16, R.10 & X.5. Few odd patrols & civilians seen W. of this line.
A.A. Vigorous burst of accurate A.A. fire over L.24. & L.29 at 1525.
Vis poor. Height 400/2000’. Obs by P.&.O.
This lengthy Squadron Record Book entry confirms that the action was shifting to the east of the city by mid-afternoon. Much infrastructure had visibly been destroyed by the withdrawing German army. It was a remarkable day, given that it had started with the British front line being some 4½ miles (7 km) northwest of Lille, towards Armentières:
The British Front west of Lille on the morning of 17 October 1918. By the afternoon, the city would be liberated. Adapted from a map accompanying General Haig’s despatches on the final British offensive. Click for larger image. Map credit: IWM/TNA/GreatWarDigital
And here, on a larger scale map, are some of the locations mentioned in the SRB entry for the mid-afternoon reconnaissance patrol undertaken by Greg and Lt Scarterfield:
Map showing observations on reconnaissance patrol on 17 October 1918. Adapted from a 1:40,000 scale map. Each numbered square is 1,000 yards. Click for larger image. Map credit IWM/TNA/GreatWarDigital.
Fort du Vinage, and Anti-Aircraft Fire
Greg says that he was fired at with rifles from the Fort du Vinage (also known as the Fort du Haut Vinage). He can’t have been flying too far from it to see this happening. Fort du Vinage is about five sub-squares (5,000 yards) east of the centre of Lille.
Also, he reports a “vigorous burst of accurate A.A. [anti-aircraft] fire over L.24. & L.29 at 1525”. Those sub-squares are about five sub-squares east of Mons-en-Baroeul, on the easternmost outskirts of the city.
These points support the idea that the ‘5000x‘ in the log book is a reference to 5,000 yds east of Lille.
Bridges on Eastern Water Defences Destroyed
The old city of Lille was surrounded by water. Over the last hundred years, Lille has expanded greatly. The southern and eastern water defences of the old city have been filled in and are the course of Autoroutes that form part of the city’s boulevard périphérique. The northern part of the old eastern water defences now also accommodates the high speed rail line from Calais and London and is the site of Lille Europe station (“Lilleurope” as they announce it on the Eurostar trains). Both the tracks at this point and the station are underground.
Lille in the First World War, from a 1:40,000 scale map. Each numbered square is 1,000 yards. Click for larger image. Map credit IWM/TNA/GreatWarDigital.Central Lille today, from 1:25,000 scale map re-scaled to match the First World War map above. Click for larger image. Map credit IGN France/GreatWarDigital.
The German Line
Greg records that “Enemy outposts appear to be holding a line roughly running though L.16, R.10 & X.5”. This line runs more or less due south from Roubaix, some 4 miles (6.5km) east of the centre of Lille. It passes through Anappes and Sainghin. Annappes is now part of Villeneuve-d’Ascq, which is itself part of the Lille-Roubaix-Tourcoing conurbation. Sainghin (today Sainghin-en-Mélantois) is just near the important high speed rail junction southeast of Lille, where the lines from Paris, Brussels and London all meet.
Lille from the Air
Greg had a couple of aerial photographs of Lille in his collection. They are unmarked and undated, so it is hard to know when they were taken. But it is likely to have been today or later, given the occupation of the city beforehand. Possibly they were taken after the armistice. But in any event here they are, with corresponding contemporary views from Google maps:
Vertical aerial view of Lille in 1918, showing Lille Flandres station (bottom right) and what was then the Théâtre de Lille, now the Opéra de Lille (centre left). Click for larger image. Photo credit: Greg’s War Collection.The same aerial view today, courtesy of Google. The new Lille Europe station is off the field to the top right. Click for link to Google maps.Slightly oblique aerial view of Lille in 1918, showing the city centre and the Place de la République (bottom centre left) Click for larger image. Photo credit: Greg’s War Collection.The same aerial view today, courtesy of Google. Click for link to Google maps.
It is evident from the two 1918 photographs that, although knocked about, Lille did not suffer physical destruction to anything like the same extent as Ypres, some 17 miles (27 km) away to the northwest. The contrast with the aerial photographs in the following post for 28 September 1918 is quite telling:
Liberation was in the air, and not only in Lille. In this newly published article, Michael Seymour explains what it meant for the people of Lille and elsewhere:
Back to work proper today, after yesterday’s brief test flight. A reconnaissance flight with Lt Scarterfield, and it was raining. So the weather hadn’t improved while Greg was away on leave.
Log Book
Date: 5.10.18
Time Out: 14.10
Rounds Fired – Lewis: 200
Rounds Fired – Vickers: 200
Bombs: -
Time on RE8s: 163 hrs 10 mins
RE8: 6740
Observer: Scarterfield
War Flying: 2 hrs 10 mins
Height: 2000
Course/Remarks: Reconnaissance. Raining.
Squadron Record Book
Squadron Record Book. Click for larger image.
Type and Number: R.E.8. 6740
Pilot and Observer: P. Lt Gregory. O. Lt Scarterfield
Duty: Reconnaissance
Hour of Start: 1410
Hour of Return: 1620
Remarks:
FIRES & EXPLOSIONS
1430. Large fire at LILLE at approx. Q.8.a.5.5 (Yellow smoke)
1430. Two fires at P.14.c.3.5 (Buildings)
1435. Large fire S.E. of LILLE. Q.11. (Unable to pin-point owing to poor visibility.)
1535. Fire in LAMBERSART.
FLASHES.
1450. K.K. on flash in J.22.a. (Unable to pin-point.) [K.K. is a signal of a flash, possibly denoting an enemy gun firing]
1535. K.K. on flash in J.3.a. (Medium sized white flash)
Shell seen to fall in ARMENTIERES after about 35 seconds.
MOVEMENT
No movement seen in Sq. I.6. to 36.
Bridge at P.21.a.0.8. intact.
Rain prevented much observation. Returned with carburettors full of water.
E.K.B. [Enemy kite balloons] Nil.
E.A. [Enemy aircraft] Nil
A.A. [Anti-aircraft fire] Normal.
200.L.G. 200.V.G. [200 rounds from each of the Lewis gun and the Vickers gun] fired into FORT d’ENGLOS (P.1.a) and PERENCHIES from 1200’.
Vis. Poor. Height 1500’. Obs.by P.&.O.
The following map shows the locations mentioned:
Map showing observations on reconnaissance sortie. Adapted from a 1:40,000 scale map. Each numbered square is 1,000 yards. Click for larger image. Map credit IWM/TNA/GreatWarDigital.
Reconnaissance
Even though the weather hadn’t got any better while Greg was away, the position of the British front line had improved. The action has moved eastwards, and was now getting towards Lille. The fact that a German shell was seen to land in Armentières shows that the town was by then in British hands.
Fort d’Englos
One of the target for small arms fire was the Fort d’Englos, in sub-square P.1.a. This was one of the “forts Séré de Rivières” that formed a belt around Lille and other cities. They were built from 1874 under the aegis of General Raymond Adolphe Séré de Rivières, who gave his name to them. In the First World War, Fort d’Englos was used by the Germans as a garrison site and ammunition depot – which made it a good target for two reasons.
Back to Rely in the Rain
“Rain prevented much observation. Returned with carburettors full of water” says the entry in the Squadron Record Book. And so a wet pilot and observer made their way back to the aerodrome at Rely. It was quite a distance back. When the aircrews had been operating around Merville, they had to fly about 13½ miles (22 km) to get back home. From Lille, it was more than double that. Soon the squadron’s base would have to move further east, or a disproportionate amount of their sortie times – not to mention fuel – would be taken up with travelling.
