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!
Things were moving fast on the penultimate day. B Flight was fully engaged in reconnaissance, and then message dropping with the latest information. But they had to see the C.O. or the Battalion Intelligence Officer before going up. Greg and Lt. Bett had the first flight of the day.
Log Book
Date: 10.11.18
Time Out: 6.15
Rounds Fired – Lewis: 200
Rounds Fired – Vickers: -
Bombs: 4
Time on RE8s: 190 hrs 30 mins
RE8: 2517
Observer: Bett
War Flying: 1 hrs 45 mins
Height: 3000
Course/Remarks: Reconn. Successful.
Allied forces were keeping up the pressure on the retreating German forces. The Lewis gun was firing, and bombs were dropping from Greg’s aircraft. But, for him, this was the last use of weaponry.
B Flight Orders
B FLIGHT ORDERS FOR 10.11.1918
2517 0600 Lt Gregory Lt Bett Reconn: Bombs
4559 0900 Lt Sewell Lt Whittles – do –
2872 1200 Lt Bon Capt Gordon – do –
2707 1500 Lt Wallington Lt Paton – do –
2500 0930 Lt Judd Sandbags MARQUISE.
2924 To be ready at 10.30.
All Pilots to report to the C.O. [Commanding Officer] or B.I.O. [Battalion Intelligence Officer] before going up. All machines when coming home are to drop a message at Divisions giving position of the Hun front line troops, M.G.s etc. The same message to be dropped to our advanced troops.
C.E. Gregory, Lt
for O.C. B Flight
The position of the front line was changing rapidly. In 24 hours it advanced 17 miles (27 km) from Tournai to just east of Ath:
Line held 9 November. Click for larger image. Map credit: Map Archive (adapted)
Lt Judd was nor part of the main action, though. He was detailed to take RE8 2500 to Marquise, where No. 1 ASD was now based, as explained in the post for 3 June 1918.
Yesterday’s reconnaissance patrol was remarkable for being east of Lille. Today’s patrol was remarkable for how much further east it was: into Belgium, as far as the River Escaut. And for encountering 10 Fokkers. This was Greg’s last patrol in the RE8 serial No E27, which may have been named ‘Gwen’, at least by him. Meanwhile, more British troops enter Lille.
Log Book
Date: 18.10.18
Time Out: 12.00
Rounds Fired – Lewis: -
Rounds Fired – Vickers: 100
Bombs: -
Time on RE8s: 175 hrs 55 mins
RE8: E27
Observer: Scarterfield
War Flying: 2 hrs 20 mins
Height: 3000
Course/Remarks: Reconn. 10 Huns. Fokker biplanes.
Squadron Record Book
Type and Number: R.E.8.E27
Pilot and Observer: P. Lt Gregory. O. Lt Scarterfield
Duty: Reconnaissance
Hour of Start: 1200
Hour of Return: 1420
Remarks: Reconnaissance running along the railway running East from LILLE through M.13 - 18. N.13 - 15 – 12.
Flooded fields at G.32.
1245. Shelling at TEMPLEUVE (H.33). Large white bursts.
1245. Light engine with steam up stationary at N.15.c.0.7.
1250. Large fires in woods along railway at I.31.c. Bridges along River ESCAUT all apparently intact and not damaged.
No enemy trenches were observed on the West side of l’ESCAUT River.
Enemy machine gun posts still in houses in village in L.24. & M.2.a.
1315. Heavy shelling of railway junction & FORT CROIX DE VALLERS (Shrapnel).
British cavalry seen in M.8.
Large bodies of British troops moving East, N.E. of LILLE towards BREUCQ. (L.15).
R.E.8. Numbered ‘3’ slightly crashed at L.13.b.9.9.
ROUBAIX station in G.3.a. on fire.
A.A. Fire not very accurate over M. & N. squares. Two bursts fired whilst flying at 1000’ over G.25. Enemy tracers fired at machine whilst flying low over G.22. 23. 30. H.31. N.2. N.9.
E.A. 1300. Large formation of ten Fokker Biplanes flying west at about 5000’ over N.A. zone. Bursts from Lewis fired at one which dived. Formation continued in a North Westerly direction climbing above clouds.
Vis. Fair. Height 400/3000’. Obs by P.&.O.
Another lengthy Squadron Record Book (SRB) report, which is perhaps not surprising given the pace of events on the ground. The distance covered on the ground was remarkable – going east from Lille to the Escaut river, which flows north from Tournai some 4½ miles (7.5km) to the east of the Belgian border. To put this in context, Tournai is almost as far to the east of Lille (15 miles, 24 km) as Merville is to the west (18 miles, 29 km). And it had taken quite some months to cover the ground from Merville to Lille.
It’s difficult to fit all these events on a map that’s large enough to see the detail (even when clicked). So here’s a selection, on a map that shows the land between Lille, in France, and Tournai, in Belgium.
Map showing some of the observations on reconnaissance patrol on 18 October 1918. East of Lille to Tournai. Adapted from a composite of 1:40,000 scale maps. Each numbered square is 1,000 yards. French-Belgian border position only approximate. Click for larger image. Map credit IWM/TNA/GreatWarDigital.
Large fires in woods along railway at I.31.c.
At 1250 Greg reported large fires in woods along a railway line, at I.31.c. The woods are between the villages of Fourcroix and Pont-à-Chin, northwest of Tournai. This larger scale map extract shows them in better detail:
Map showing fire in woods at I.31.c, northwest of Tournai, on 18 October 1918. See below for the significance of the blue car. Adapted from a 1:40,000 scale map. Each numbered square is 1,000 yards. Click for larger image. Map credit IWM/TNA/GreatWarDigital.
The railway in question, incidentally, is the line running northwest from Tournai towards Kortrijk, just after the branch off west towards Lille.
The view of the woods today, looking from where the blue car is shown on the map, is this:
The view looking north to the woods by the railway line where the fires were at I.31.c – complete with blue car. If you tap or click to see a larger image, you should be able to make out the masts of the railway’s present day catenary system in front of the trees.
The map reference of the car’s location, in First World War terms, is 35.O.1.a.7.3. You can see the location today on Google Maps at https://goo.gl/maps/wkfzpNFVGeC2.
Bursts from Lewis
According to the SRB, the Lewis gun fired bursts at one of the Fokker biplanes that were seen over zone N.A. But if we believe Greg’s log book, the Vickers gun fired 100 rounds, and the Lewis gun fired nothing. It looks as though one of these entries is a mix up, but who can now tell which was right?
Back home to Chocques
From Pont-à-Chin on the River Escaut, north of Tournai, back to Chocques was 34 miles (55 km). This is almost three times the distance from Merville to Rely, which was a frequent journey home for Greg not so many weeks ago. An indication that 42 Squadron will soon need to move again.
Farewell to E27
According to his log book, this was Greg’s final flight in E27, which had more or less been his usual machine. (According to the Squadron Record Book, Greg flew E27 on a short travelling flight on 22 October 1918, which his log book records as having been in 2517. But whichever is correct, both sources agree that this was his last war flying patrol in E27.)
E27’s History
E27 had been built by Siddeley-Deasy in Coventry in March 1918, as a gift from the Chiefs of the Northern Shan States, Burma. It was despatched to the British Expeditionary Force (c/o No 1 Aeroplane Supply Depot (ASD), then at St Omer) the following month. E27 was allocated to 42 Squadron on 11 April 1918 – three days after Greg had got his wings at Yatesbury:
Greg had first flown E27 on 11 June 1918. This was the occasion when he got hopelessly lost, and he landed at Bergues, near Dunkirk. It was also when he wrote the name Gwen next to E27 in his diary. Greg took up E27 most flying days since that day, until he went on leave on 18 September 1918. But when he came back he only flew this aeroplane occasionally. Today marked his 63rd flight in the aircraft. It was his final patrol, and possibly his last flight, in it. The records show that E27 was marked ‘time expired’ on 1 November 1918. The squadron handed it back to No. 1 ASD (which by then had moved to Marquise, between Boulogne and Calais, and located more precisely here) on 8 November 1918.
Observers came and went, but E27 – whether named Gwen or not – was the nearest Greg had to a constant companion. And in the end, the aircraft just wore out.
RE8 Serial No E29, a sister aircraft to E27, built at the same time (March 1918) by Siddeley-Deasy in Coventry. E29 was named Lamberhurst. On the subject of RE8 names, it may be that E27 was named Gwen, possibly officially or just affectionately by Greg – see the post for 11 June 1918. Click for larger image. Photo marked public domain by Wikipedia.
Meanwhile, in Lille…
More British troops entered Lille from the west. They got a warm reception, as these Imperial War Museum photographs show.
After his long journey and spending the night in a railway truck in Aire-sur-la-Lys, Greg finally made it in the morning to his squadron – No. 42 Squadron RAF, Major H. J. F. Hunter, M.C., commanding – at Rely Aerodrome. He had a first, short flight with the squadron that afternoon.
Diary
Diary
Monday June 3rd 1918. Phoned up to 42 Squadron for tender.
Managed to find an Hotel with someone in, where we had breakfast.
Arrived Squadron (at Rely, nr Estrée Blanche, west of Merville) about 9.30am. Posted to B flight. (Merville – midway between Ypres & Arras.)
[Side note] Squadron about midway between Ypres & Arras. Front includes Eastern edge of Forest of Nieppe & down to where the line cuts the La Bassée canal north of Béthune.
So began Greg’s time at Rely, where he was to spend several months. Rely is a small village set amongst farmland on the gently rising ground to the west and south of the Lys. It is about 31 miles (50 km) WSW of Lille. If the name seems familiar to British travellers to France today, it is probably because the Aire de Rely is the first eastbound service area on the A26 autoroute (L’Autoroute des Anglais) from Calais.
Rely, Merville and Lille on a modern map (courtesy Google). Click for a larger, zoomable map (opens in new tab).
The First World War aerodrome at Rely was at 50°34’44” N 2°21’4″E (hat-tip to Anciens Aerodromes) , which places it on the Rue de Liettres, NW of the village centre just on the 100 m contour line. The site looks like this in Google Street View today:
RE8 E102
As it happens, today was the day that the Squadron’s daily orders recorded that the RE8 aircraft with the serial number E102, which was to be allocated to Greg the following day, was officially transferred to the strength of the squadron:
The sector of the front line on which 42 Sqn was working ran, as Greg notes, from the east of the Nieppe Forest (just west of Merville) to the La Bassée canal near Béthune:
The Front Line near Merville, from Gen. Haig’s despatches. Image credit: IWM/GreatWarDigital
Most of the action that Greg saw would be in the north of this sector, near Merville.
Sandbag Flight
As Greg had no observer or passenger with him on his first short flight, he had to carry sandbags to ensure that the aeroplane was properly balanced, as explained here, under the heading “Crew”:
