The weather continued to interfere with the work of 42 Squadron. Following yesterday’s cancellation of a shoot, today the weather forced Greg down 10 minutes after take off for a Counter Battery Patrol. Also, Lt Ives is posted to the Home Establishment.
Saturday June 29th. CBP at 8.am with Lt Pring. Weather very dud, came down after 10 mins.
In Other News…
Today’s Routine Orders contain the news that Lt. Edward Leslie Ives, seconded from the West Yorkshire Regiment to the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force, was posted on 28 June 1918 to the Home Establishment:
42 Squadron daily orders for 29 June 1918. Click for larger image
Lt Ives is seen here with Lt Whittles in their flying kit next to an RE8 at Rely:
Lts Ives and Whittles next to an RE8 at Rely. Click for larger image
Another Counter Battery Patrol, in which Greg was twice switched to new targets, another four bombs dropped, some “pretty hot Archie”, and an intriguing order about sheet tin.
Thursday June 27th. CBP 8 – 11 (8.40 – 10.45). Four bombs dropped, caused small fire. Archie very persistent & pretty hot.
Sent FL FR FD & got to 6,000 ft. Engine rough but picked up & ran very well.
Got X twice from CWS.
…means that Greg twice was given the signal X from the squadron’s Central Wireless Station. ‘X’ meant ‘change to new target’. The X (formed of ground strips of cloth) would be followed by a description of the target. Sounds a bit like he felt was being messed around.
Sheet Tin
The day’s routine orders from the CO, Major Hunter MC, had an interesting entry about sheet tin, which was obviously of some value:
42 Sqn Daily Orders 27-06-1918 page 1
42 Sqn Daily Orders 27-06-1918 page 2
Recovery of sheet tin from Biscuit, Tea and other large tins
Arrangements having been made to sell all sheet tin which is in good condition and which is not required by the British Armies in France, it is necessary that as uniform a method of recovery as possible should be adopted.
Tins are to have their tops and bottoms removed entire, after which the bodies are to be opened up at the joints, i.e., at two diametrically opposite corners. the sheets thus produced are to be pressed flat, bundled in twenties and tied with wire or hoop iron.
The tops and bottoms are to be similarly bundled.
The joints can be opened by hating on an iron plate over a brazier. When the solder in the joint runs, the parts of the tin can be shaken apart.
Special care is to be taken that only sufficient heat is used to make the solder run. Too much heat will spoil the tinned surface and render it unfit for sale.
To prevent deterioration from rust, it is very important that tins should be dealt with as soon as received and should not be left exposed to damp after packing (4000/40 (Q.B.1).)
(G.R.O. 4326, dated 21.6.18).
One might reasonably wonder why “the British Armies in France” might have any use for sheet tin themselves. In fact, one use was to make reflective signal discs in the gas mask haversacks of the infantry:
Haversack signal disc used by Allied troops. From Michael Meech, ‘A Short History of Contact Patrols’ Cross & Cockade International 40(2) 116-127 (2009)
The discs could be deployed by troops in forward positions, so that RAF patrol aircraft on infantry liaison duties (so-called ‘contact patrols’) could see their position and transmit this information to the relevant headquarters.
Another Counter Battery Patrol, and more bombs dropped today; and more water in the carburettor, so an early return:
Log Book
Date: 26.6.18
Hour: 11.00
Machine type: RE8
No.: E27
Observer: Lt Roche
Time: 1 hr 10 m
Height: 3000
Course/Remarks: CBP. 4 bombs. Returned due to engine.
Diary
Wednesday June 26th. CBP. Dropped four bombs on houses. Late up & early down – water in carburettor.
Nothing to indicate where the bombs on houses were dropped, but it was probably somewhere in or around German-occupied Merville.
2nd Lt Roche
This was to be 2nd Lt Anthony Berthon Roche’s last flight as Greg’s observer. He was evidently still with 42 Squadron at least until 7 July 1918, according to the records of http://www.airhistory.org.uk/rfc/people_index.html, but Greg’s own papers contain no more information about him.
Back on Counter Battery Patrol after recovering from the flu, with Lt Roche (also recovered), meant a 5:30am start that was rewarded with a direct hit with a bomb on a bridge near Merville. Mac (Lt. Hugh McDonald), who died yesterday, was buried later in the day.
Log Book
Date: 25.6.18
Hour: 5.30
Machine type: RE8
No.: E27
Observer: Lt Roche
Time: 1 hr 30 m
Height: 3000
Course/Remarks: CBP. Direct hit on bridge. Wat. in Carb.
Diary
Tuesday June 25th. CBP at 5.30 am. Very heavy mist. Dropped bombs on bridge near Merville, (direct hit). Observer fired 100 rounds behind Merville.
Heavy low bands of clouds appeared about 6.45 to windward.
Engine became very rough owing to water in carburettor so came home. No Archie. No Huns.
Good landing.
Developed a cold as after effect of P.U.O.
Mac buried.
“Dropped bombs on bridge near Merville, (direct hit)”
An opportunistic departure from a counter battery patrol. Which bridge was it? Hard to tell, as there are so many, as this map extract shows:
Extract from a 1:20,000 map of Merville, May 1918 edition, with trenches revised to 19 June 1918. German works in red. Numbered squares are 1,000 yards. Map credit: IWM/TNA/GreatWarDigital
Merville still has still lots of bridges. One of today’s tourist information boards proudly says:
As the heart of the town is surrounded by water, it can only be reached by crossing one of the seventeen bridges.
It seems unlikely that even a direct hit with one of the 20 lb Cooper bombs that were carried by an RE8 would actually have brought a bridge down. And Greg would surely have proudly said so if he had done. (Spoiler alert: he did on a later occasion!)
Water in Carburettor
A recurrent problem, with the heavy mist and low cloud.
Lt. Hugh McDonald (Mac) Buried
Lt. Hugh McDonald lies buried at plot III.D.33 at Aire Communal Cemetery, next to his observer 2nd Lt. Cuthbert Alban Marsh at III.D.34.
Greg’s first day out of bed (just) after the flu was a bad day for the squadron, with a crash at Rely aerodrome.
Diary
Sunday 23rd. Got up, & walked round a bit feeling groggy. Macdonald [sic, should be McDonald] & Marsh spun into the ground & caught fire, both rescued & taken to hospital.
McDonald & Marsh Crash at Rely
Lt Hugh McDonald (as his name was spelt in the official report) was the pilot.
And 2nd Lt Cuthbert Alban Marsh was the observer, and was also Greg’s observer on his near-disastrous first day on the Front, when they crashed in crops at Trézennes. On that occasion, Marsh was thrown clear:
There were two hospital facilities at Aire-sur-la-Lys at the time. User mhifle of The Great War Forum says that the 54th Casualty Clearing Station came to Aire on 16 April 1918. This CCS was also known as the ‘1/2nd London CCS’. He gives its previous locations with the BEF in France as:
Hazebrouck 1 April 1915 to 31 July 1915
Merville 1 Aug 1915 to 28 March 1918
Haverskerque 29 March 1918 to 15 April 1918
At Aire, the 54th CCS joined No 39 Stationary Hospital, which was there from May 1917 to July 1918 according to The Long, Long Trail. So McDonald and Marsh may have been taken to one of these hospital facilities.
“British Casualty Clearing Station”
The Greg’s War collection includes the following aerial photograph captioned “British Casualty Clearing Station”, which is otherwise unidentified.
High-angle oblique aerial photograph from the Greg’s War Collection entitled “British Casualty Clearing Station”. Click for larger image.
It is possible that this was the 54th CCS at Aire (maybe with No 39 Stationary Hospital also in shot). The landscape looks similar to that just west of Aire, upstream along the Lys valley, near the village of Mametz – Mametz (Pas de Calais) that is, not Mametz (Somme).
A high-angle oblique view created in Google maps. (It’s not entirely successful, as Google has not 3D-imaged the area.) The aspect is looking northeast from just south of the Route de Mametz. Click to go to Google maps to see the location.
But I’m not entirely sure that this is the same place. In this instance, it’s hard to tell how much the landscape has changed over the years. Without any hard evidence of where the photo was taken, and without even knowing just where in or around Aire the 54th CCS was located, I can only identify it provisionally.
On another damp day around the River Lys, Greg takes Lt Watkins as observer, since Roche has flu. Central Wireless Station tells them to reconnoitre an area by l’Épinette, southeast of Merville. But they didn’t see any guns firing and the damp air leads to water in the carburettor again.
Log Book
Date: 19.6.18
Hour: 3.30
Machine type: RE8
No.: E27
Observer: Lt Watkins
Time: 1 hr 10 m
Height: 3000
Course/Remarks: CBP. Came down due to water in
carburettor.
Diary
Wednesday June 19th. E27. Roche got an attack of the ‘flu’. Took up Watkins as observer, saw one Hun.
Asked C.W.S. for a target & got R VII. Went over to reconnoitre square R7 but owing to smoke from a fire just to windward was unable to see any guns firing in that square. Weather pretty dud & damp.
“Asked C.W.S. [Central Wireless Station] for a target”
CWS was the squadron’s Central Wireless Station. This station operated one of the squadron’s two radio receivers. The other was at Station Headquarters for practice and tests. As the General Staff’s “Co-operation of Aircraft with Artillery” booklet (SS 131) explains:
…the Central Wireless Station should be at some central position in the corps area sufficiently far back to prevent jambing. This station acts as a link between the squadron commander and his machines working on the line, and is of great value in preventing incipient failures in their initial stages. … Its utility is largely dependent on quick telephone communication to the squadron and to batteries. Whenever possible, therefore, it should be located near Corps Heavy Artillery Headquarters, whose direct lines run to the above units. At this station are also taken weather reports, hostile aircraft reports and, in case of sudden enemy bombardments or attacks, calls for reinforcing machines.
Square R7
This would be square R7 in Sheet 36A (zone RA), 2 miles (3.2 km) SSE of Merville, near Lestrem. At the time, there was some kind of well defended German post or position there, at l’Épinette:
Extract of 1:20,000 ‘Harassing Fire’ map showing Square R7 of 1:40,000 Sheet 36A and l’Épinette. This was the square given by the Central Wireless Station. Red markings show German trenches and wire entanglements. Black marking show centres of activity, occupied areas and numbered targets. Triangles indicate dumps, and the flag shows a headquarters position. The map is dated 27 June 1918, with trenches correct to 16 June 1918.
Nowadays, l’Épinette is on the southern edge of Merville-Calonne Airport:
Tuesday June 18th. E27. Counter Battery Patrol. Clouds low, atmosphere very damp, engine struggling along with carburettor nearly full of water. Eventually started backfiring, so made tracks for home. Good landing.
This wouldn’t be the last occasion of water in the carburettor.
Greg’s run of counter battery patrols continues. This time, clouds both interfere and provide a refuge. Water in the carburettor was a problem.
Log Book
Date: 17.6.18
Hour: 8.20
Machine type: RE8
No.: E27
Observer: Lt Roche
Time: 2 hrs 25 m
Height: 4300
Course/Remarks: CBP. Water in carburettor.
Engine rough.
Diary
Monday June 17th. E27. Counter Battery Patrol.
Very cloudy. Climbed up above clouds, very pretty but cold. Hun machines very active.
Dived down through clouds and got in a rain storm. Too dud to get any information.
Sunday June 16th. E27. CBP. Saw several huns. Dropped four bombs & fired 100 rounds. Sent UL UR UD. Got a lot of water in carb.
“Saw Several Huns” – Albatros C series?
Greg doesn’t record what sort of German aircraft he saw that day. They might have been scouts (fighters), or they may have been Albatros C series reconnaissance/light bombing aircraft (essentially the German equivalent of RE8s) such as this:
Albatros C series (C.III?) reconnaissance aircraft. Credit: Greg’s War Collection.
“Dropped four bombs and fired 100 rounds”
The bombs would have been the nominal 20 lb Cooper bombs featured yesterday. The armaments of the RE8 are given here:
Later in his log book Greg would record the number of bombs dropped and rounds fired, and from which gun, but he hadn’t started doing that at this stage.
“Sent UL UR UD”
Following on from yesterday’s post, in which Greg sent FL FR FD, these were weather signals sent to the squadron’s Central Wireless Station (CWS):
UL: Weather unfit for counterbattery work
UR: Weather unfit for registration [of artillery fire onto a target]
UD: Weather unfit for photography.
And after sending that trio, he no doubt headed for home: retour à Rely.
In other 42 Squadron news, while observing an artillery shoot Capt. Hutchinson and 2nd Lt. Blair were attacked by five hostile aircraft behind enemy lines a couple of miles north of Merville. They survived and returned to Rely unscathed.
Air combat report. Click for larger image.
Time: 7 p.m.
Locality: K.11. sheet 36a N.E.
Pilot: Capt. G. A. Hutchinson
Observer: 2/Lieut. J. Blair
5 Albatros Scouts. D.III.
E.A. came from back of clouds and were within 100 yards of R.E.8. before discovered. Observer immediately opened fire. Two of the E.A. then turned off. After the Observer had fired 100 rounds the remainder turned off and flew East.
Extract of 1:40,000 map of Merville and surrounding area. Square K11 is 3,000 yards (~ 2miles, ~3km) north of the centre of Merville, which is 17 miles (27 km) west of Lille.
