42 Squadron RAF only arrived at Ascq Aerodrome on 22 October 1918, and would be leaving in three days time. Among Greg’s collection are two photographs of him and a few fellow officers, taken on the airfield, with some still identifiable houses behind them. Meanwhile, the everyday business of B Flight – reconnaissance and counter-battery patrols and a shoot – continues. As it turned out, these would be the last counter-battery patrol and the last shoot flown by the flight in the war. Greg did not fly today.
B Flight Orders
B FLIGHT ORDERS FOR 8.11.1918:-
2707 10.00 12.30 Lt Judd Lt Elliott RECON & CBP
4889 when fit Lt Bon Capt Gordon SHOOT
Lt Sewell Lt Whittles NEXT JOB
Lt Wallington Lt Bett - do –
E27 will be ready to leave the ground at 630.
Wm. Ledlie, Capt.
Ascq Aerodrome
The Anciens Aerodromes website pinpoints the site of Ascq aerodrome as being just south of the junction of the Rue des Fusilés and the Rue de la Tradition/Rue Gaston Baratte. The road junction is itself only a few hundred yards/metres southwest of the centre ville of Ascq itself, as can be seen on this embedded Google map:
Today, the site of the airfield is mostly an industrial estate, with a bit of scrubland and some allotment land – with what looks like an asparagus bed on the right! –
The site of Ascq aerodrome, June 2018. Looking south from the Rue de la Tradition towards the marker in the Google map, above. Click for larger image.
Photos with the Rue des Fusilés in the Background
Here are the two photographs of Greg and others. They are taken with buildings on the Rue des Fusilés being visible behind them.
The first:
Greg (second from left, front row) and others on the airfield at Ascq. Third from left in the front row is probably Capt. Bill Ledlie. Click for larger image. Credit: Greg’s War Collection
The houses on the left of the group are still there, on the Rue des Fusilés, although somewhat altered and built around:
Houses on the Rue des Fusilés in June 2018. The cream house on the left and the red-roofed building, since refashioned but recognisable by its chimneys, were there in 1918. Click for larger image
And the second, probably taken on the same occasion:
Greg (on the right in the back row) and others on the airfield at Ascq. Seated in the middle in the in the front row is Capt. Bill Ledlie. Click for larger image. Credit: Greg’s War Collection
Note the house with the patterned roof, visible between the observer standing on the left and other other five. It is still quite conspicuous on the Rue des Fusilés:
House with pattered roof on the Rue des Fusilés in June 2018. Click for larger image
Although Greg was not flying again today, it was business as usual for B Flight, 42 Squadron RAF at Ascq. Reconnaissance and counter-battery patrols and shoots were in today’s daily orders. An apparent dual role for Lt Sewell is resolved.
B Flight Orders
B FLIGHT ORDERS FOR 7.11.1918
2517 6.0 830 Lt Wallington Lt Bett Recon & CBP
4889 1200 1430 Lt Bon Capt Gordon – do –
6740 Lt Sewell Lt Sewell Shoot
2707 Lt Judd Lt Whittles do
E27 Capt Ledlie Lt Paton do
Lt Mulholland
Pilots and observers who have not passed all tests will please arrange to do so tomorrow.
The early machine will send down a weather report at 6.45 so that, if fit, the people on shoots can get into the air without any loss of time.
W. Ledlie, Capt.
There are obviously a couple of mistakes here. I have corrected Capt. Ledlie’s implication that he himself was still a lieutenant. But then there is Lt. Sewell’s designation as both pilot and observer in 6740! Judging from other entries in the B Flight Orders, he was in fact a pilot. And he often flew with Lt Whittles as observer. So probably Lt Sewell’s name should just be deleted from the observer’s column, and those named beneath him shunted up.
Lt Denis Charles Sewell
Lt Denis Charles Sewell was born on 31 October 1898. Prior to being commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in 42 Sqn, he was in the Honourable Artillery Company.
‘Tests’
The nature of the ‘tests’ that both pilots and observers must pass is not explained.
It was another non-flying day for Greg, but today we can see why. For the last few days of the war, we have copies of the daily orders for B Flight, 42 Squadron RAF. And today’s entry shows that Greg was the first reserve pilot on the list for any job that fell due after the already scheduled reconnaissance flights and shoots. As it turned out, he stayed on the ground.
B Flight Orders
B Flight Orders
B FLIGHT ORDERS FOR 6.11.1918
2707 0800.1030 Lt Sewell Lt Whittles RECON.
6740 1400.DUSK Lt Judd Lt Elliott - do –
E27 Capt. Ledlie Lt Mulholland SHOOT
4889 Lt Bon Capt. Gordon - do –
Lt Wallington Lt. Bett - do –
Lt Gregory
Wm. Ledlie, Capt
Presumably other flights from the squadron will have fielded aircraft for further reconnaissance patrols and other jobs during the day.
The flight’s daily orders, and presumably those for the other flights, were nothing very grand. They were hand written and signed by the Officer Commanding the flight or his deputy. What we see above is evidently a carbon copy of the orders in Army Book 152, a correspondence book for field service. Probably a notice board or somewhere equally prominent displayed the original for all concerned to see.
In a quieter day than yesterday, Greg was down to do a counter-battery patrol. But the weather was dud, as confirmed on a brief test flight with Capt. Gordon (and his dog, Waso). This evening saw the opening under allied auspices of the Nouveau Théâtre Lille with a performance by Leslie Henson’s Gaieties entertainment troupe.
Log Book
Date: 3.11.18
Time Out: 15.20
Rounds Fired – Lewis: -
Rounds Fired – Vickers: -
Bombs: -
Time on RE8s: 187 hrs 15 mins
RE8: 2517
Observer: Cpt. Gordon
War Flying: 0 hrs 10 mins
Height: 500
Course/Remarks: Weather test. C.B.P. Dud.
Weather Test
Aircraft serial no. 2517 was back in service for the test at 3:20pm, thereby demonstrating that it took no more than a day to repair or replace an RE8’s petrol tank.
The weather test flight was mentioned in Capt. Gordon’s letter home to his mother today. In the letter he says kind words about Greg, who he reports wasn’t well*. Is it possible that these emollient words belied some sort of anxiety, following yesterday‘s brave/reckless (delete according to taste) adventure, in which they both could easilyhave died? Perhaps that is to read in too much.
3 November, letter to darlingest Mother from 42 Squadron, RAF, BEF, France
All goes well, but the weather alas has taken a turn for the worse. I am getting on quite well & am less lonely than I was before Waso’s return. I am beginning to get to know some of the people here. Waso went up today for a 10 mins joy ride. She didn’t enjoy it much!
I have moved downstairs in my billet & have got a very nice room. The people are very nice. The old lady thought the stairs were too much for me! & so they moved out themselves, which was extraordinarily good of them.
Leslie Henson (K. will know who he is, he was in Theodore & Co) is giving a show somewhere near here tomorrow evening. I hope to go & see him.
The Day’s Activities
I expect I ought to tell you what I have done today! Not very interesting but still, here goes. This morning I woke about 7.10am & read in bed. ‘A Knight on Wheels’, ‘till about 8am when I lightly leapt up & dressed etc. Breakfast, bacon & fried bread, then down to the aerodrome, pausing en route for the odd word with one or two fellows, on arrival at the aerodrome I found the weather was dud., so I went & looked at the workshops & got the SM (that stands for Sergeant Major) to explain engines & bits of engines. I then went & played about with a Lewis gun. I can’t remember what I did then until lunch time.
After lunch I hung about as I was meant to be flying, but the machine wasn’t ready & the weather was dud. I & Waso & the pilot went up for a test of a few mins. Waso didn’t care much about it. My pilot was a fellow called Gregory, a very nice fellow, about 19 years old. He isn’t very well having a touch of flu. After that I went & tidied up my room & had tea & read a paper, & here I am now writing to the dearest old mater in the world. I fear all this is dull to you.
And to End..
I wonder if Karf could very kindly buy & borrow the things on the attached list & send them out to me soonish. I lost a good bit while I was on leave! I am sending a quid along for expenses. I hope you all are flourishing. I wish often that I was back with you again. I did have a deuc’d fine leave.
The old war will soon be over really. It’s good all these other countries having come out of it. Very best love darlingest. God bless you. This would have been Donald’s birthday. Your v v loving Cedric
[Letter reproduced by kind permission of Keith Gordon, Capt. Gordon’s nephew.]
* Note added on 11 November 2018 at10:30pm: I was rather taken with Rob’s initial suggestion that Greg’s ‘touch of flu’ was actually a hangover resulting from too many snifters (a very Greg word) the previous evening after his harrowing afternoon!
However, Rob subsequently revised his theory on learning that Greg didn’t fly for the next five days: maybe it actually was flu. The post for 21 June 1918 recounted the time when Greg had flu at Rely (‘Merville fever’, he called it then). And from the brief discourse on the epidemiology of Spanish Flu in that post, it can be seen that it had a second wave in early November 1918. So Spanish Flu is a good candidate to explain Capt. Gordon’s reference to Greg being unwell, and why he didn’t fly for the next few days.
Capt. Gordon says that “Leslie Henson…is giving a show somewhere near here tomorrow evening”. In fact, that was to be the second of two performances opening the Nouveau Théâtre Lille, which is now the Opéra de Lille, under Allied auspices. The first was this evening. We don’t know on which night Greg travelled the 5 miles (8 km) from Ascq into Lille to see the show, but he seems to have gone to one of them as the programme is among his papers:
Programme
Programme cover page for the reopening of the Nouveau Théâtre Lille. Click for larger image.Programme middle pages for the reopening of the Nouveau Théâtre Lille. Click for larger image.
This must have been a hot-ticket occasion. In a fascinating article entitled ‘Lille under German Rule‘ on the Remembrance Trails – Northern France website, Claudine Wallart, the Head Curator of Heritage at the Archives Départementales du Nord, tells the story of the theatre during the First World War:
Destroyed in the fire of 1903, Lille theatre (now the Opera) was in the process of being rebuilt when war broke out. The occupiers completed the job and named it the “German Theatre”, opening with much pomp and ceremony at Christmas 1915 in the presence of Crown Prince Rupert of Bavaria and Lille’s governor General Heinrich. Artists from Berlin performed Iphigenia in Tauris by Goethe, a symphonic prelude and Liszt’s Festklange. On subsequent occasions the Ring of the Nibelungen and various light operas were also performed there but, although invited, the civilian population of Lille kept away. The German artists remained at the Opera until the end of September 1918 when they destroyed the sets and stage machinery and left.
In the intervening weeks since the Germans left, repairs had evidently made the theatre ready enough for tonight’s performance. No doubt General Heinrich and the German high command would have been aghast at the cultural plummet from Goethe, Liszt and Wagner to a singalong with Louis J. Seymour and crowd. And equally, no doubt tonight’s audience wouldn’t have given a toss. But how they would have relished William Ewart Noble’s ‘Advice to Another William’!
Leslie Henson’s ‘Gaieties’
The Nouveau Théâtre Lille was not the first venue at which Greg had seen Leslie Henson’s ‘Gaieties’ Army Entertainers. Exactly three months earlier, a few days before the beginning of what would be the Allies’ final offensive, The Gaieties had put on a show for 42 Squadron in the hangar at Rely:
The names mentioned in August are still there. Bert Errol, the ‘noted female impersonator’ had pieces in both halves of the Lille show. (You have to wonder what the ‘camouflage’ was in ‘Camouflage & Cacophony’!) Teddie Holton was there, as of course was Leslie Henson. A little over a month later, The Gaieties were still performing at Lille, as this Imperial War Museum photograph shows:
In a day that came close to ending in disaster, Greg and Capt. Gordon were down to do a shoot – the last time in the war that Greg was down to do one. But it was unsuccessful, presumably because of poor weather. In a subsequent adventure behind enemy lines, a rifle shot from a German soldier at an occupied chateau nearly did for both of them. Unsurprisingly, they found that strafing an occupied chateau is dangerous.
Log Book
Date: 2.11.18
Time Out: 13.00
Rounds Fired – Lewis: 400
Rounds Fired – Vickers: 100
Bombs: 4
Time on RE8s: 187 hrs 5 mins
RE8: 2517
Observer: Cpt. Gordon
War Flying: 1 hrs 55 mins
Height: 3500
Course/Remarks: Shoot 6” How (99). Unsucc. Pet. tank shot.
Unsuccessful Shoot
We have no further details of the shoot, other than it was with 99 Siege Battery RGA, who were firing 6-inch howitzers, and that it was unsuccessful. (Greg had shot with 99 Siege Battery previously, on 22 August 1918 and 24 August 1918.) The intended target must have been something east of the River Scheldt/Escaut, as that was where the British front line was only yesterday. Given what we know from the rest of the day’s event, it seems likely that it was the weather that washed out the shoot.
Petrol Tank Shot
The laconic, three last words of the log book entry cover are a very sparse indication of what Greg and Capt. Gordon got up to next. It became something of a Gregory family story. It’s worth bearing in mind that Capt. Gordon was not only Greg’s observer this day, but was also his senior officer.
Rob Parsons, Greg’s son-in-law and my stepfather, recalls Greg recounting the events of that murky afternoon like this:
Gordon had decided that flying conditions were still good enough to go and annoy the Hun, even if it was only a spot of defenestration. So off they went, with a very reluctant pilot, in search of a little sport. Just as Greg was hoping he could say the fuel state meant they must turn for home, out of the murk appeared the perfect target in the form of a German-occupied Chateau. So he obediently descended to the level of the upper floor, through the windows of which Gordon emptied the drum of his Lewis gun. Meanwhile, as Greg climbed away and turned for home, Gordon had changed the drum and ordered him to go back because he “hadn’t done downstairs!”
It was during this second pass that, not surprisingly, the Huns started to shoot back. As he began to climb away, Greg recalled seeing a German on one knee, in classic toy soldier pose with rifle, shooting at him from the corner of the Chateau. That’s when a shot punctured the fuel tank and he began to be drenched with fuel. Fortunately, the aircraft didn’t catch fire. Anyway, he instinctively opened the throttle as far as it would go and began to climb as hard as he could. There the throttle stayed until he ran out of fuel.
Until then of course, he was being sprayed with fuel and he said he was close to getting frostbite. The fact that he returned safely is proof that he gained enough height to cross the enemy lines without being potted at by otherwise unoccupied Huns in the trenches. They made it back, and the aircraft was back in service the next day.
So, eight days before the war was over, it nearly ended very badly.
Sidelights
The log book and family recollection are all we have to go on for these events (oh that the Squadron Record Book were available!) Nonetheless, there are a few interesting sidelights that illuminate what went on.
Rounds Fired
First, note the number of rounds fired, as recorded in the log book. 100 rounds were fired from the Vickers gun, which was pilot-operated and forward facing. And Capt. Gordon fired 400 rounds from the Scarff ring-mounted Lewis gun in the rear compartment. Greg never recorded more rounds fired in from the Lewis gun a single patrol. This was certainly consistent with a major shoot up, at least in small arms terms.
The Petrol Tank
Secondly, consider the position of the petrol tank. The tank was an elliptical-sectioned cylinder running fore-and-aft, and mounted immediately behind the dashboard. In this photo of the front cockpit of replica RE8 A3930 at the RAF Museum, London, the pale grey bottom of the tank is just visible below the bottom lip of the dashboard. And the fuel filler cap is further forward on the top.
Front cockpit of replica RE8 A3930 at the RAF Museum, London. The bottom of the grey fuel tank is visible below the dashboard. Fuel filler cap on top. Click for larger image.
The position of the tank can also be seen in the top left drawing from The Vintage Aviator Limited’s RE8 Gallery collection here.
So the tank was essentially above the pilot’s legs. It was therefore no surprise that petrol from the punctured tank drenched Greg with fuel. He was extraordinarily lucky that a fire didn’t break out. He was also lucky that the bullet didn’t hit him.
An Extraordinarily Safe Job?
Thirdly, it may not be accidental that Capt. Gordon did not apparently write to his mother about the events of today. One wonders whether he recalled that only yesterday he had written to her:
This is an extraordinary safe job & no one gets hurt at it. So don’t you worry, dear old bird.
Given that he had himself been hit in the (wooden) leg on an earlier flight, and only one week ago today Greg’s propeller had been split by shrapnel, it is clear that a good deal of luck was involved in ‘not getting hurt’ – or worse. Today’s events underlined that. But no doubt Capt. Gordon was writing more to reassure his mother than to be candid.
A Mere Bagatelle
Where was the chateau that they shot up? The log book doesn’t record it; Greg was no longer writing his diary; and of course we don’t have the SRB entry for the day. However, with a bit of deduction and a liberal amount of conjecture, it may have been the deliciously named Château Bagatelle at Wattripont on the road running northeast from Tournai towards Renaix (Ronse).
The evidence is this. Wattripont is a plausible distance from Ascq – 19 miles (30.5 km). It’s about the same distance beyond the British front line as the line was from Ascq. And it’s in a plausible location, in fact almost familiar territory. Greg’s recent reconnaissance and counter-battery patrols had been reporting on locations north and northeast of Tournai. Only two days ago on 31 October 1918, he had reported fires and explosions in DB zone. Wattripont is in EB zone, 6,000 yards to the east, as can be seen on this map:
Wattripont, and its location in relation to Ascq, showing the relationship between zones DB and EB. Adapted from a map accompanying General Haig’s despatches on the final British offensive. Click for larger image. Map credit: IWM/TNA/Great War Digital.
And Wattripont has a good candidate chateau with two floors: the now comfortable looking Château Bagatelle:
Château Bagatelle, now a comfortable looking hotel and spa. Click to visit their website and see more present day photographs. Photo credit: Château Bagatelle.
So just maybe this was the chateau in question.
Another Near Disaster
Today’s near disaster was just days before the armistice. It bookends another near disaster five months ago, when Greg crashed on his first day on the Western Front on 4 June 1918. Though that time he couldn’t blame the enemy.
In what would turn out to be Greg’s last successful shoot of the war, Capt. Cedric Foskett Gordon was Greg’s observer for the first time today. Captain Gordon was one of the senior officers of B Flight, 42 Squadron and was evidently a remarkable character.
Log Book
Date: 1.11.18
Time Out: 13.15
Rounds Fired – Lewis: -
Rounds Fired – Vickers: -
Bombs: -
Time on RE8s: 185 hrs 10 mins
RE8: 2407
Observer: Cpt. Gordon
War Flying: 2 hrs 15 mins
Height: 7000
Course/Remarks: Shoot Portuguese. Successful.
“Shoot Portuguese”
This is nothing to do with shooting Britain’s Portuguese allies, of course. Rather, it is everything to do with observing a shoot involving Portuguese artillery.
For reasons explained in yesterday’s post, no Squadron Record Book entry is available for today:
Because of that, we don’t know much about the shoot. The battery, though, was evidently one of the few remaining Portuguese artillery units. The Portuguese Expeditionary Corps had suffered badly on the first day of the Battle of the Lys, on 9 April 1918. As a result of this, by the end of the war Portugal had only nine artillery pieces left, according to the Passion and Compassion 1914-1918 website. Two of them were heavy howitzers: a British 6″ siege piece, and a similarly sized Franco-Portuguese 15 cm T.R. Schneider-Canet-du-Bocage. Given that Greg’s shoots tended to be with heavy (siege) artillery batteries, it was possibly that it was with these howitzers that he was observing and directing artillery fire today.
What might the target have been? We don’t know. Maybe it was one of the usual suspects: a hostile battery (Greg’s most frequent target), an ammunition dump, trenches, or a strategically important crossroads. Or it might have been something unusual, thrown up by the unprecedented circumstances in these last, heady days of the war. In any event, the target must have been east of the River Scheldt/Escaut, along which the British front line still ran in Greg’s sector. Some miles both to the north and and to the south of Tournai, though, further eastward progress had been made:
The British Front on the morning of 1 November 1918. Adapted from a map accompanying General Haig’s despatches on the final British offensive. Click for larger image. Map credit: IWM/TNA/Great War Digital.
Captain Cedric Foskett Gordon MC, CdG
Greg’s observer today was Captain Gordon. Capt. Gordon was one of the two commanding officers of B Flight of 42 Squadron. He was evidently quite a character.
The following brief distillate of Capt. Gordon’s life comes, with permission, from Matt Ball’s informative Sevenoaks WW1 blog (see main link below or here):
Early Life and Wartime
Cedric Gordon was educated at Lancing College, were he excelled in sports. In 1910, he was commissioned into the North Staffordshire Regiment. He was sent to France on the outbreak of war and was wounded twice. In 1915 he was awarded the Military Cross for leading an attack on a village.
His second injury was the most serious and resulted in his losing a leg. You might be forgiven for thinking that this would be the end of his war service but Cedric joined the Royal Flying Corps and continued his wartime service as an observer and air gunner on the Western Front. He was subsequently awarded the Croix de Guerre in 1917, was mentioned in dispatches four times and awarded the military class of the OBE in 1919.
According to a nephew, quoted in his obituary, Cedric was shot at during one flight with the bullet shattering his wooden leg. On landing, he was said to have found the stray bullet in his pocket and was confined to bed until the camp carpenter had made him a new leg.
Post War
After the war, and having gained his pilot’s licence despite his wooden leg, Cedric was sent to Russia with British forces to aid the White Russians in the Crimea in their fight against the Bolsheviks. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and received the Order of St Ann and the Order of St Stanislas from the Russians. After leaving Russia, he flew in Palestine, where during one flight for reconnaissance work, he was forced to land in the desert and was, according to his obituary ‘picked up by a band of friendly Arabs’.
Cedric later worked for British intelligence in mainland China, before returning to England and taking command of the RAF Bloom Centre. During the Second World War, he was eventually put in charge of the South East Air Training Corps and was also a member of the Home Guard.
Retirement
On his retirement, he returned to Lancing College, where his brother Edward was a Master, to become Bursar. Later in life he became well known in Sevenoaks for his involvement in the local scouting movement.
No doubt it was Capt. Gordon’s unusual circumstances that meant he was one of two officers in B Flight to hold the rank of Captain. The other was Capt. Bill Ledlie (of whom more here).
First Day Back
As it turns out, 1 November 1918 was Capt. Gordon’s first day back at the squadron at Ascq. For part of October he had been on leave in the UK. When he returned, he found that his dog (who rejoiced in the name of Waso) was missing. His own account of the day and the latter part of his journey back is preserved in a letter to his mother. This letter is one of a number kindly made available by Cedric Gordon’s nephew, Keith Gordon. As Matt Ball notes in another post on the Sevenoaks WW1 blog (see below, but also linked here):
What emerges from these letters is a strong sense of a close, spirited family, each with at least one nickname (Cedric’s was ‘beast’ owing to his general strength), and a spirit of adventure embodied by Cedric himself. No doubt some of his insouciance is designed to reassure his worried mother, to whom all of these letters are addressed…
With that as background, here is the text of Cedric Gordon’s letter of 1 November 1918:
All Saints Day (1 November) letter to darlingest Mother from 42 Squadron, RAF, BEF
I have arrived at last.
To go on where I left off. O’Keefe & I went & lunched at an estaminet where we had an excellent fish, some veal & a bottle of red wine, all of which made me far more contented with the world at large. This done, we returned to our vigil at the Town Mayor’s office & at about 3pm our Tender finally arrived. After a long & uneventful journey we arrived at the Squadron about 7pm.
Waso was reported missing, believed to have been stolen by a general belonging to the Corps. This was rather depressing, but the major who commanded 42 Sqn promised to take me round to the Corps with a view to returning my hound. I had dinner with HQ Mess & then went round to my Flight Mess (B Flight) & found them full of good cheer & beer. We had quite an amusing evening. I have got a very nice billet. There are quite a number (at present unknown) of French people living here. They have provided me with a very nice room upstairs & a large bed, sheets etc & a very small basin! The natives speak very bad French & I can’t make a great deal of headway with them, however they are very friendly.
This morning…
…I rose about 7.30am & sorted out my hut, such of it as hasn’t been lost during my absence. I spent the morning playing about with a Lewis gun & this afternoon I went up for a short time. This is an extraordinary safe job & no one gets hurt at it. So don’t you worry, dear old bird.
This evening…
…I went down with Hunter (the OC) to the Corps to interview this General man who had acquired Waso. I looked through the glass door & saw old Waz inside, so softly I opened the door & Waso came bounding out. She was awfully pleased to see me, almost as pleased as I was to see her. After a bit I got hold of the General who was a very nice fellow. He said he found her many miles away & had adopted her. I expect someone had picked her up in a lorry or some vehicle & dropped her off after a bit.
He was very loath to part with her & said he was very fond of her, which is not surprising. However, he gave her up & I promised him a puppy when the next instalment arrives, & we parted friends. Normally people go to bed here about 8.30pm, which is rather dull. They are, on the whole, a very comic crowd, but there are several very nice fellows.
I have missed you…
…most awfully. It is rotten leaving you, however before very long now the war will be over & Waso & I will return to the family. No more news at present. Very fondest love darlingest. Best love to Karf who, together with my old Mother, made my leave absolutely splendid. I hope Am is well. God bless you darlingest.
Photos
Greg had a few photos of Capt. Gordon in his collection. The two of them must have been in touch after the war, as that is evidently when at least a couple of the photos were taken. I’m grateful to Keith Gordon for his help with identifying the locations of the last two.
Captain Cedric Foskett Gordon. Credit: Greg’s War Collection. Click for larger image.Captain Cedric Foskett Gordon. Credit: Greg’s War Collection. Click for larger image.Captain Cedric Foskett Gordon. This was a post-war photograph from the time he was a member of the Mission to South Russia (1919 – 1920). Credit: Greg’s War Collection. Click for larger image.Captain Cedric Foskett Gordon. This was a post-war photograph, taken during his return to UK from South Russia. Credit: Greg’s War Collection. Click for larger image.
A Telling Tale
To get a further flavour of Cedric Gordon’s character, here is a link to Matt Ball’s second post on Cedric Gordon, which contains the text of several more letters. The last of the letters, dated 24 September, is worth reading in particular. It is about a scouting excursion on the ground beyond the lines.
Today was, in retrospect at least, a significant day: the counter-battery patrol that Greg flew was to be his last of the war. It was also Greg’s last wartime flight for which we have an entry in the Squadron Record Books for 42 Squadron.
Log Book
Date: 31.10.18
Time Out: 8.00
Rounds Fired – Lewis: -
Rounds Fired – Vickers: -
Bombs: 4
Time on RE8s: 182 hrs 55 mins
RE8: 2517
Observer: Mulholland
War Flying: 2 hrs 35 mins
Height: 3000
Course/Remarks: C.B.P. 6 Huns. Fokkers.
Squadron Record Book
Click for larger image.
Type and Number: R.E.8.2517
Pilot and Observer: P. Lt Gregory. O. Lt Mulholland
Duty: Artillery Patrol
Hour of Start: 0800
Hour of Return: 1035.
Remarks: 0820. Large fire and numerous explosions at D.B. zone. The fires were continuous for about 2 hours, and covered a large area.
0915. Large explosion at V.C. zone. Probably ammunition.
0930. Slight enemy shelling at PONT A CHIN, unable to pick up flashes.
E.K.B. 0815. 1 at 3000’ over J.18. Pulled down at 0840 and let up again at 0920.
E.A. Six Fokkers at 4000’ over I.&.O. squares. Sent 6.F.E.A.I.4. [Six Fokker enemy aircraft over I.4.]
BOMBS. 4-25 lb dropped at I.38.a. [Looks like 38, but can’t be, as the numbering only goes up to 36] Four bursts observed.
Vis. fair to bad. Height 3000’. Obs.by P.&.O.
The activity seen on this patrol was all to the north and northeast of Tournai:
Map showing events of 31 October 1918, north to northeast of Tournai. Adapted from 1:40,000 scale maps. Each lettered square is 6,000 yards,and each numbered square is 1,000 yards. Click for larger image. Map credit IWM/TNA/Great War Digital. Image of Kite Balloon adapted from IWM photo Q11901.
V.C. Zone
There is a bit of ambiguity about which V.C. zone the Squadron Record Book (SRB) report is referring to. V.C. zone refers to the bottom left quadrant of V square. The V.C. zone that I have shown on the above map extract is from V square of 1:40,000 Map Sheet 29, which is just to the north of Sheet 37. Sheet 37 covers Tournai and surrounding areas and has its own V square, and hence its own V.C. zone, though. For each map sheet, V square is immediately below P square, and hence for Sheet 37 it is southeast of Tournai.
The SRB entries rarely said which map sheet they were referring to. (Those who wrote them and read them all knew what they meant). I have assumed that V square and V.C. zone of Sheet 29 was what was meant here, on the basis that V.C. and D.B. zones, where similar activity was reported, touch each other.
Six Fokkers
The six Fokkers were over squares I and O. The specific subsquare that formed the basis of Greg’s zone call (“6.F.E.A.I.4“) was I.4, which borders square C. The River Scheldt (Escaut in French) as it ran north of Tournai from square O to square I formed the British front line at the time.
Four Bombs Dropped at I.38.a?
Well, they can’t have been! Although the entry seems clear, there isn’t a quadrant 38.a. Each lettered square is made up of a six-by-six array of subsquares, which are numbered 1 to 36. And each numbered square is divided into four quadrants a, b, c and d, with quadrant a being the top left. So 38.a just isn’t possible.
What might have been intended? Here is a larger scale extract, from a 1:20,000 map, showing the bottom 12 subsquares of square I:
Map showing Pont-à-Chin, north of Tournai. Adapted from a 1:20,000 scale map. Each numbered square is 1,000 yards. Click for larger image. Map credit IWM/TNA/Great War Digital.
Any of quadrants 28.a, 30.a, 33.a and 36.a might have been intended, as they were all to the east of the River Scheldt and hence the British front line.
Last Counter Battery Patrol
Today’s counter-battery patrol was Greg’s last. (One was scheduled for 3 November 1918, but the weather put paid to it.) Undertaking these patrols had been one of his two main jobs with 42 Squadron, the other being the observation of artillery fire, or ‘shoots’. The first CPB was on 13 June 1918, the week after Greg joined the squadron at Rely:
Today is the 46th entry in his log book for a counter-battery patrol. To see the whole collection, click here. And for a refresher of what they were all about, have a look at this page:
Although this was Greg’s last counter-battery patrol, there was still much to do before the fighting was over.
Last Flight with Lt. Mulholland
Today was also Greg’s last flight with Lt Arthur Mulholland, with whom he had previously flown on 12 September 1918 and 15 September 1918. The 12 September post contains a profile of Lt. Mulholland.
Last wartime SRB entry
And on the subject of ‘lasts’, today is also the last day for which a pre-armistice Squadron Record Book entry for 42 Squadron RAF is available. That isn’t to say that there never were any entries. It’s just that they’re missing from the files of The National Archives.
The Squadron Record Books for 42 Squadron RAF for late 1918 are held in two files at The National Archives. They are AIR/1/1840/204/209/10 (July to November 1918):
Cover for file AIR/1/1840/204/209/10 at The National Archives. Click for larger image.
Cover for file AIR/1/1416/204/29/9(1) at The National Archives. Click for larger image.
The two files contain duplicates of some records. Often duplicates are just carbon copies of different quality. Unfortunately, neither file contains any records covering the almost three weeks from 1 to 19 November 1918. And, to be honest, the subsequent SRB entries are pretty dull. They’re mostly such things as rigging tests and travelling flights.
If anyone finds copies of the missing entries, or knows something of their whereabouts if they’re still extant, please do get in touch via the contact page. The National Archives would probably be glad to hear from you too.
It was billed as a counter-battery patrol in the log book, and as reconnaissance in the Squadron Record Book. In fact it was both. After a misty false start, today’s patrol took Greg further east into Belgium than he had gone before. There were three German Fokkers over Mont St. Aubert, heading north from Tournai. But the mist made artillery flashes hard to pinpoint.
Log Book
Date: 29.10.18
Time Out: 6.20/7.00
Rounds Fired – Lewis: 100
Rounds Fired – Vickers: -
Bombs: 4
Time on RE8s: 180 hrs 20 mins
RE8: 2517
Observer: Scarterfield
War Flying: 1 hrs 35 mins
Height: 3000
Course/Remarks: C.B.P. 3 Huns. Fokkers.
Squadron Record Book
Click for larger image.
Type and Number: R.E.8.2517
Pilot and Observer: P. Lt Gregory. O. Lt Scarterfield
Duty: Test Flight.
Hour of Start: 0620.
Hour of Return: 0640.
Remarks: Weather test.
Visibility very poor. -ground mist.
Click for larger image.
Type and Number: R.E.8.2517
Pilot and Observer: P. Lt Gregory. O. Lt Scarterfield
Duty: Reconnaissance
Hour of Start: 0700
Hour of Return: 0815
Remarks: 0720. M.G. fire drawn from J.29.b.5.4.
0725. Enemy shelling road and railway crossing at H.30.c.8.2. Unable to see flashes owing to mist.
0740. Sent K.K. on flashes in J.35. Too misty to pinpoint.
E.A. 0750. 1.E.A. at 4000’ over D.C. zone.
0755. 3.Fokkers at 5000’ over I.D. proceeding Northwards.
BRIDGES. still intact at TOURNAI with the exception of railway bridge at O.6.d.2.8. [Probably O.16.d.2.8 intended]
Traffic bridge at O.10.a.1.1 intact
Foot bridges at I.32.a.5.5. I.26.b.9.9. I.14.b.8.7. still passable.
A.A. Normal.
E.K.B. Nil.
BOMBS.4-25lb dropped at I.29.d.5.0. Bursts observed.
Vis.V.Poor. Height 1500/2500’. Obs.by P.&.O.
This map shows the sites of most of the observations:
Map showing events of 29 October 1918, north of Tournai. Adapted from a 1:40,000 scale map. Each numbered square is 1,000 yards. Click for larger image. Map credit IWM/TNA/Great War Digital.
Zone DC
Zone DC, above which Greg saw one Fokker, is from 2-5,000 yds north of sub-squares 13, 14 and 15 of square J.
Mont St. Aubert
The three Fokkers seen above zone ID were flying northwards above Mont St. Aubert, a hilly outcrop 3½ miles (5.5 km) north of Tournai. The hills reach above the 140m contour line and were to form part of a short-lived defensive line held by the retreating German army.
Railway Bridge
The Squadron Record Book (SRB) refers to a no longer intact railway bridge at O.6.d.2.8, but there is no railway in or near sub-square O.6. However, the railway bridge at O.16.d.2.8 is the principal railway bridge over the Scheldt coming northwest out of Tournai, and look likely to have been a prime candidate for destruction by the withdrawing German forces.
Traffic Bridge
It is not clear what is meant by the (intact) traffic bridge at O.10.a.1.1, as no bridge is shown at that point. But it is possible that one had been built after the map (dated March 1917) was drawn. At this point, the main stream of the river is by-passing Lock No. 2 (Écluse No. 2) so it is possible that the river was at least temporarily bridged here.
“Pinpoint”
Greg says in the SRB that it was “too misty to pinpoint” the flashes in J.35. This isn’t the first time he has said “pinpoint”, either as one word or two. See the SRB entries in the post for 8 October 1918 and 25 October 1918. Although the word is in common usage today, what’s interesting is that 100 years ago it wasn’t. As the following Google Ngram View shows, its usage really took off between the 1940s and 1980s, since when it has declined a little. And up to the mid 1930s “pinpoint” and “pin point” were used more or less equally – if rarely.
Google Ngram for “pinpoint”. Click here for a full version.
Next up…
The next entry in Greg’s log book is for Thursday 31 October 1918.
Two attempts at photography today. The first, in cloudy conditions in the morning, was unsuccessful. The second was a success, with at least 20 plates exposed of the River Scheldt, north of Tournai. But success was accompanied by a narrow escape, as shrapnel from anti-aircraft fire split the propeller of RE8 2517. Fortunately, Greg and his observer Lt John Macmillan were able to return safely to the aerodrome at Ascq.
Log Book
Date: 26.10.18
Time Out: 9.45
Rounds Fired – Lewis: -
Rounds Fired – Vickers: -
Bombs: -
Time on RE8s: 178 hrs 05 mins
RE8: 2517
Observer: McMillan [sic, should be Macmillan]
War Flying: 0 hrs 50 mins
Height: 3000
Course/Remarks: Photos – too cloudy.
Date: 26.10.18
Time Out: 12.20
Rounds Fired – Lewis: -
Rounds Fired – Vickers: -
Bombs: -
Time on RE8s: 178 hrs 45 mins
RE8: 2517
Observer: McMillan [sic, should be Macmillan]
War Flying: 0 hrs 40 mins
Height: 3500
Course/Remarks: Photos – 20 plates.
Although the log book gives little in the way of detail, there is more in the Squadron Record Book:
Squadron Record Book
Click for larger image.
Type and Number: R.E.8.2517
Pilot and Observer: P. Lt Gregory. O. Lt McMillan [sic, should be Macmillan]
Duty: Photography
Hour of Start: 0945, 1220
Hour of Return: 1035, 1300
Remarks: 1240. 12 24 plates exposed over I.A. & I.C. zones from 3500’.
A.A. [Anti-aircraft fire] Accurate, apparently at long range. (Propellor split by shrapnel.)
E.A. [Enemy aircraft] Nil.
Vis.Good.Clouds 3700’. Height 3500’. Obs.by P.&.O.
IA and IC Zones
Zones IA and IC together form the left hand (west) side of square I on map sheet 37. They cover the River Scheldt a few miles north of Tournai. Pont-à-Chin, the scene of yesterday’s patrol, is at the bottom of zone IC, and Pecq is at the top of zone IA:
Map showing zones photographed on 26 October 1918, north of Tournai. Adapted from a 1:40,000 scale map. Each numbered square is 1,000 yards. Click for larger image. Map credit IWM/TNA/Great War Digital.
Propeller Split
Shrapnel from anti-aircraft fire (‘archie’) hit the propeller of the aircraft and split it. The RE8’s propeller was of laminated hardwood construction, which probably limited the damage to a split. The laminations can be seen in this photograph of the RAF Museum’s replica RE8 built by The Vintage Aviator Limited of New Zealand:
Propeller and engine detail of the replica RE8 A3930 at the RAF Museum, Hendon. Click or tap to see full size image.
In the event, the damage wasn’t so severe as to prevent the aircraft being flown back to Ascq. Nonetheless, it was certainly a case of: Archibald, certainly hot – as the song almost had it!
Greg’s observer today was Lt John Gibb Brown Macmillan. Both Greg’s log book and the Squadron Record book spell his name as McMillan. But when Lt Macmillan signed his name on the front of the menu of the Farewell Dinner to mark the squadron’s departure from Rely on 10 October 1918, he unmistakably wrote ‘Macmillan’. See the post containing the menu here (Macmillan’s signature is above the girl’s cap):
John Macmillan was born on 19 October 1898, and so had celebrated his 20th birthday exactly one week ago. Greg’s diary says nothing about him. But the list of RFC/RAF people at airhistory.org.uk notes that on 29 June 1918 he suffered a forced landing with Lt Bill Ledlie at Créquy in RE8 C2478:
Ok [C2478 RE8] f/l Crequy due thick fog on artly patrol. Lt W Ledlie Ok/2Lt JGB Macmillan Ok
42 Squadron were operating out of Rely at the time, and Créquy is some 15 miles (24 km) southwest from Rely, towards the coast. The nearest point of the front line was 11 miles (18 km) in precisely the opposite direction. So presumably they had (seriously) overshot Rely in the fog on the way home.
The two flights today were to be the only ones in which Greg and Lt Macmillan flew together.
Next up…
The next entry in Greg’s log book is for Tuesday 29 October 1918.
Despite poor visibility, Greg and Lt Bett went on their first counter-battery patrol from Ascq. The patrol was short (45 mins) and low (700 ft). They reconnoitred the situation near Pont-à-Chin on the River Scheldt, north of Tournai.
Log Book
Date: 25.10.18
Time Out: 15.35
Rounds Fired – Lewis: -
Rounds Fired – Vickers: -
Bombs: -
Time on RE8s: 177 hrs 15 mins
RE8: 2517
Observer: Bett
War Flying: 0 hrs 45 mins
Height: 700
Course/Remarks: C.B.P. – Dud.
Squadron Record Book
Click for larger image.
Type and Number: R.E.8.2517
Pilot and Observer: P. Lt Gregory. O. Lt Bett
Duty: Reconnaissance
Hour of Start: 1535
Hour of Return: 1620
Remarks: 1535. Enemy shelling PONT A CHIN village & “Y” roads at I.32.a.1.1.
Flashes seen in wood at I.30.a. & I.24.b.&.d. – impossible to pin point owing to visibility. Flashes red.
Floods in I.33.& 27. subsided. Large floods still in I.21.
A.A.M.G. [anti-aircraft machine gun] & single rifle shots from O.4.
No new footbridges seen.
Bridges at I.32.a.7.2. destroyed.
No E.A. [enemy aircraft] or E.K.B. [enemy kite balloons] seen.
Vis. poor. Height 700’. Obs.by P.&.O.
The following map shows the locations referred to:
Map showing observations on reconnaissance patrol on 25 October 1918, north of Tournai. Adapted from a 1:40,000 scale map. Each numbered square is 1,000 yards. Click for larger image. Map credit IWM/TNA/Great War Digital.
Just one week ago, Greg reported on a reconnaissance flight from Chocques that the bridges over the River Escaut (Scheldt) north of Tournai were intact:
That was no longer the case. Today he reported: “Bridges at I.32.a.7.2. destroyed.” This seems to have been the crossing over the Scheldt from Pont-à-Chin to Paradis. Earlier in and probably before the war, there was a evidently a ferry over the river. Leading east from the ferry, next to the Au Ponton du Paradis inn, was a bridged track or causeway over the marshes on the eastern bank to the settlement of Paradis. The Germans had evidently built a bridge to replace the ferry, as shown overprinted in blue on the 1:20,000 scale map extract below, which was updated to October 1918. But unsurprisingly they had destroyed it as they withdrew east across the river.
River crossing at Pont-à-Chin. Adapted from a 1:20,000 scale map marked ‘Trenches corrected from information received up to 15 .10.18’. Each numbered square is 1,000 yards. Click for larger image. Map credit IWM/TNA/Great War Digital.
Pont-à-Chin
Pont-à-Chin was one of the first crossing points on the River Scheldt north of the bridges in Tournai. It still is today: apart from the A8-E42 autoroute crossing high above the river, the Pont Bolus at Pont-à-Chin in the first place going north of Tournai where a’surface road’ crosses the Scheldt.
This was not the first occasion on which war raged around the village. In the Flanders campaign of the French Revolutionary Wars, the Battle of Tournai was fought on 22 May 1794. Pont-à-Chin changed hands four times during the battle, which resulted in a victory for the allies of the coalition (Austrian, British and Hanoverian) forces of the ancien régime against the revolutionary French. Times and allegiances change, even if the fields of battle don’t.
Sevenoaks WW1 
