Two days after 42 Squadron moved to Saultain, Greg went back to Aulnoy Aerodrome to pick up another aircraft. It wasn’t far: a few minutes’ drive in what was then open countryside. Or he could have walked it in under an hour.
Back to Aulnoy Aerodrome from Saultain to fetch another aircraft. Click for larger image. Adapted from a 1:20,000 scale map dated 9 October 1918. Each numbered square is 1,000 yds across. Map credit: TNA/IWM/Great War Digital.
Log Book
Date: Dec 13thMachine Type: RE8
RE8: 2517
Observer: Scarterfield
Time: 10 min
Height: 500
Course/Remarks: Travelling to Saultain
Squadron Record Book
Squadron Record Book. Click for larger image.
Type and Number: R.E.8.2517
Pilot and Observer: P. Lt Gregory.
Duty: Travelling Flight
Hour of Start: 1140
Hour of Return: 1150
Remarks: Travelling from AULNOY
The Squadron Record Book makes no reference to an observer, whereas Greg’s log book indicates by ditto marks that Lt Scarterfield accompanied him on this short flight from Aulnoy Aerodrome to Saultain. Can’t say which is right. But either this flight or the travelling flight two days previously on 11 December 1918 was Greg’s last with Lt Ralph Scarterfield. They had first flown together on 30 August 1918 from Rely:
After only a couple of weeks at Aulnoy-lez-Valenciennes, 42 Squadron RAF is on the move once more – to nearby Saultain Aerodrome. Greg and Lt Scarterfield take RE8 2924 to the squadron’s new home.
Log Book
Date: Dec 11thMachine Type: RE8
RE8: 2924
Observer: Scarterfield
Time: 05 min
Height: 500
Course/Remarks: Travelling to Saultain
Squadron Record Book
Squadron Record Book (SRB) entry. Click for larger image.
Type and Number: R.E.8.2517*
Pilot and Observer: P. Lt Gregory. O. Lt Scarterfield
Duty: Travelling Flight
Hour of Start: 1135
Hour of Return: 1145
Remarks: Travelling flight to new aerodrome.
*There is a discrepancy in the aircraft serial number between Greg’s log book and the SRB. Probably the log book is correct. As will be seen, the log book records that Greg came back to Aulnoy in a couple of days to ferry 2517 to Saultain. Whereas the SRB has him flying 2517 on both occasions, which would be as pointless as it is unlikely.
42 Squadron Moves to Saultain Aerodrome
This was the shortest move that the squadron made while it was on the Western Front in 1918: a trip ENE of all of 2.3 miles (3.7 km)! Aulnoy is about 2 miles (3 km) south of Valenciennes, and Saultain is about 2½ miles (4 km) southeast .
Aulnoy to Saultain on a modern map (courtesy Google). Click map for a larger image, or click here to go to Google maps.
Saultain, like Aulnoy, is east of the River Scheldt (Escaut), but still in France. These days they are both satellite settlements for Valenciennes. The residents of Saultain can boast that a couple of fields of farmland separate them from the urban continuum – although those fields are bisected by the A2 autoroute.
Back in the air again for the first recorded flight since travelling to Aulnoy on 25 November 1918. It was a mere 30 minute rigging test.
Log Book
Date: Dec 8thMachine Type: RE8
RE8: 2924
Observer: Scarterfield
Time: 30 min
Height: 3500
Course/Remarks: Rigging test. O.K.
Squadron Record Book
The information in Greg’s log book is sparse. So is that in the Squadron Record Book entry:
Squadron Record Book entry. Click for larger image.
Type and Number: R.E.8.2924
Pilot and Observer: P. Lt Gregory. O. Lt Scarterfield
Duty: Test flight
Hour of Start: 1035
Hour of Return: 1105
Remarks: Rigging test. Satisfactory.
Rigging Test
Greg’s rigging test was in RE8 2924, with Lt Scarterfield. This was the first time that Greg had flown this aircraft. At a later date, it would be the last RE8 that he flew.
The flight was for 30 minutes. Short, maybe, but the longest flight he had taken since his 1 hr 45 min reconnaissance and message dropping outing on 10 November 1918, before the armistice. And as it turned out, no flight after this one would be longer than 15 minutes.
Two aircraft from B Flight, 42 Squadron, were in the air today. But the main activity was a couple of parades.
B Flight Orders
B Flight 2/12/18
0900 Parade
For Officers only, outside B & C Flts.
CHATEAU
Dress. Drill Order. Gumboots, shoes & stockings drill not be worn.
Flying Orders
(2517) 0930 Lt McDERMONT & Sandbags. Practice message dropping.
(2707) 0930 Lt SEWELL Lt MULHOLLAND Zone calls
MEN’S CHURCH PARADE
10.30 Lt SCARTERFIELD is detailed to take charge of B Flight.
C.E. Gregory, Lt
O.C. B Flight
Parade for Officers
The weather was evidently still bad. Gumboots compulsory, and shoes and stockings forbidden. But the reason for the parade wasn’t specified.
Flying Orders
Practice message dropping and zone calls: some of the skills of war still being practised. It is a while since zone calls were mentioned on these pages:
It is a bit of a mystery why the men should have been on a church parade on a Monday. It is not as if it was a major saint’s day. The Catholic church recognises 2 December as the feast day of a little known 4th century Roman martyr, Saint Bibiana (or, variously, Viviana, Vivian, or Vibiana). But that seems an unlikely reason for a Monday church service for the air force of a country whose established church was protestant.
Perhaps it was just a question of helping to fill the men’s day. And maybe that explains what the officers were doing too.
After yesterday’s unsuccessful attempt, Greg and Lt Scarterfield today reach Aulnoy Aerodrome (Aulnoy-lez-Valenciennes). This flight was part of 42 Squadron RAF’s move from Marquain in Belgium back into France.
Log Book
Date: Nov 25thMachine Type: RE8
RE8: 2517
Observer: Scarterfield
Time: 20 min
Height: 2000
Course/Remarks: Travelling to Valenciennes
The fact that they reached 2,000 ft during the flight indicated better weather – or at least higher cloud cover – than yesterday.
Aulnoy-lez-Valenciennes
Greg’s Log Book only indicates that they were travelling to Valenciennes. But there were several airfields near the town. Marly, Saultain, Aulnoy, la Briquette and Saint Leger were all local aerodromes, as shown on the following map.
Aerodromes around Valenciennes. Adapted from a 1:20,000 scale Barrage Map dated 9 October 1918, when British ground forces were preparing to attack. Each numbered square is 1,000 yds. Click for larger image. Map Credit: TNA/IWM/Great War Digital.
I’m grateful to Great War Forum user fetubi for identifying which aerodrome that 42 Squadron moved to at this stage. (He says that the move was on 28 November 1918, so perhaps that was the date of its completion. There was of course less pressure to complete such moves swiftly now.) And the ever useful Anciens Aerodromes site enabled me to distinguish between the adjacent aerodromes known as Aulnoy and la Briquette.
42 Squadron Moves to Aulnoy-lez-Valenciennes
So, from these various sources of information, we can establish that Greg and Lt Scarterfield flew the 21 miles (34 km) SSE from Marquain to Aulnoy.
Marquain to Aulnoy-lez-Valenciennes on a modern map (courtesy Google). Click the map for a larger image or here to go to Google maps.
The squadron’s new aerodrome was just 2 miles (3 km) south of the centre of Valenciennes. The site is now a housing development, next to a Carrefour supermarket and Junction 21 of the A2 autoroute.
Today was exactly two weeks after Armistice Day, which was when the squadron had moved to Marquain. So Greg’s stay in Belgium lasted just 14 days.
Next Up…
The next entry in Greg’s log book is for 8 December 1918. But it seems likely that there was some joyriding to be done before then. And we will have a couple of entries in Greg’s B Flight Orders notebook to look at in early December.
42 Squadron RAF was on the move again, after 13 days at Marquain, near Tournai, in Belgium since Armistice Day. But today’s attempt to reach the squadron’s new aerodrome near Valenciennes was unsuccessful.
Log Book
Date: Nov 24thMachine Type: RE8
RE8: 2517
Observer: Scarterfield
Time: 20 min
Height: 500
Course/Remarks: Attempt to reach Valenciennes
Attempt to reach Valenciennes
Why was the attempt to reach Valenciennes unsuccessful? We can only guess, but judging by the height at which they were flying (500 ft) it looks likely to have been bad weather. Just because the fighting had stopped, it didn’t mean that the dismal weather would improve.
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.
In a vivid indication – if further indication were needed – of how fast the war was moving (and moving eastwards), 42 Squadron RAF was itself on the move again. After a mere nine days in Chocques, the squadron today travelled the 25 miles (40.5 km) ENE to Ascq, just east of Lille.
Log Book
Date: 22.10.18
Time Out: 7.00
Rounds Fired – Lewis: -
Rounds Fired – Vickers: -
Bombs: -
Time on RE8s: 176 hrs 20 mins
RE8: 2517
Observer: Scarterfield
War Flying: 0 hrs 25 mins
Height: 1500
Course/Remarks: Travelling flight to Ascq.
Squadron Record Book
Click for larger image.
Type and Number: R.E.8.27
Pilot and Observer: P. Lt Gregory. O. Lt Scarterfield
Duty: Travelling Flight.
Hour of Start: 0705
Hour of Return: 0735
Remarks: Travelling to new Aerodrome
This all looks fairly straightforward, until you consider which aeroplane Greg and Lt Scarterfield actually flew in. Was it 2517, as in Greg’s log book, or E27, as in the Squadron Record Book? Well, who knows. But if the reconnaissance flight on Friday 18 October 1918 (link below) wasn’t Greg’s last flight in E27, then today’s travelling flight certainly was.
Since 42 Squadron was deployed (as 42 Squadron RFC) to the Lys sector in March 1918, it has always operated out of aerodromes in the Pas-de-Calais département. These were (with dates of arrival, which are linked to the relevant posts):
The flag of Artois. Credit Wikipedia User:Patricia.fidi
Chocques, Trèzennes and Rely aerodromes were in the sizeable central portion of the Pas-de-Calais that was the ancient County of Artois (Dutch Artesië, whence the English adjective artesian, as in well), of which the capital was Arras.
Today was the day that 42 Squadron moved from Artois to Flanders – French Flanders, that is.
42 Squadron’s move ENE from Chocques to Ascq shown on a modern map (courtesy Google). Click for a larger, zoomable map (opens in new tab)
Flanders
Flag of Flanders. Credit: Tom Lemmens (Wikipedia User:Tom-L)
Flanders was also an ancient (medieval) county whose territory is today in France and Belgium. Lille (Dutch Reisel) is one of its major cities, and its principal domestic railway station is Lille Flandres. Today, French Flanders is part of the Nord département.
The old course of the River Lys, as it flowed from west to east near Merville, marked the boundary between the counties of Artois and Flanders. It does the same job now, demarking the Pas-de-Calais and Nord départements. In acknowledgement of the ancient boundary, the dykes forming the north and south banks of the canalised River Lys are today known as the Digue de Flandres and the the Digue d’Artois.
Farewell to Chocques
Only having been in Chocques for just over a week, 42 Squadron barely had time to get their feet under the table. It can’t have felt much like home in so short a time. But Greg may have felt leaving Chocques to be significant for another reason. It was here that he first saw and probably heard the effect of the artillery of the Western Front, as he travelled through on his way to Rely in early June 1918. Chocques had been just 2½ miles from the front line:
Ascq, where 42 Squadron was moving to, was a small settlement a couple of miles out into the countryside east of Lille, with a station on the railway line to Tournai. Today, it still has the station, but it has grown into Villeneuve-d’Ascq, which is practically a city in its own right. Villeneuve-d’Ascq is home to the Université de Lille, Campus Cité Scientifique, and to the headquarters of the well known French supermarket Auchan.
The site of the former aerodrome was south of the Rue des Fusilés (today the D941) and now accommodates a housing development. It is shown here with a red flag in the bottom right quadrant of square R.15 (i.e.R.15.d) of a First World War 1:40,000 scale map, and correspondingly on a modern map:
Ascq, east of Lille, in the First World War. The airfield is in square R.15, marked with a red flag in the bottom right sub-square (d). Click for larger image. Map credit: TNA/IWM/Great War Digital.Ascq, east of Lille, today. A red flag again marks the airfield. Click for larger image. Map credit: IGN France/Great War Digital.
Zone Calls
The following zone calls are recorded in the Squadron Record Book today, together in each case with the word ‘Unobserved’. Presumably other squadrons put out these calls, calling for artillery fire on what appeared to be urgent and high value targets. The zones in question were all to the east of Tournai. But 42 Squadron was unable to observe the response to any of them as they were busy relocating to their new home, which was about 13 miles (21 km) miles to the west.
Click for larger image.
Zone Calls.
P.C. G.F. TRAIN P.24.b.1.3 Unobserved
J.C. N.F. A.A. J.25.a.85.75 "
J.C. W.P. N.F. A.A. J.25.a "
J.C. G.F. TRAIN J.31.d.2.6 W "
J.C. G.F. TRAIN J.32.c.8.4 E "
J.A. N.F. J.13.d.95.05 "
Translation Key:
P.C., J.C. and J.A. are all map zones northeast (J.A. and J.C.) and east (P.C.) of Tournai.
G.F.: Gun fire (or Fleeting target)
N.F.: Guns Now Firing in position at…
N.F.A.A.: Anti-aircraft ditto
W.P.N.F.: Many batteries in square active (followed by location of square)
W travelling west
E travelling east
A Confusion of Zones
There’s something wrong with the first zone call (P.C. G.F. TRAIN P.24.b.1.3). Map position P.24.b.1.3 isn’t in zone P.C.; rather, it is is zone P.D. Which is wrong, the zone or the map reference? Well, a railway passes through P.24.b.1.3, so perhaps P.D. G.F. TRAIN P.24.b.1.3 was intended. But the same railway also passes through P.20.b.1.3, which is 4,000 yards to the west, in zone P.C. So maybe P.C. G.F. TRAIN P.20.b.1.3 was intended.
No doubt this ambiguous error caused some cursing on the part of the battery artillery commanders, as well as a few wasted shells.
A Bit of Light Exercise…
Armed with the above zone calls, the key, and knowledge of the above error, all that is needed to locate the targets on a map is, well, a map. So here it is, and I’ve marked the relevant zones on it. But the location of the targets is left as an exercise for the reader. (I’ve always wanted to write a sentence like that.) Help is at hand – see the link below the map.
Zones near Tournai. Adapted from a 1:40,000 scale map. Each numbered square is 1,000 yards. Click for larger image. Map credit IWM/TNA/GreatWarDigital.
Further information on map references and zone calls generally is available here:
Ascq, where 42 Squadron was moving to, was a small settlement a couple of miles out into the countryside east of Lille, with a station on the railway line to Tournai. Today, it still has the station, but it has grown into Villeneuve-d’Ascq, which is practically a city in its own right. Villeneuve-d’Ascq is home to the Université de Lille, Campus Cité Scientifique, and to the headquarters of the well known French supermarket Auchan. 
