Part 6 (1/2)

CHAPTER XX

THE ITALIAN WINTER

Happy the Battalion which for a while at least in wartime has no history. We had come to Italy expecting at once to be desperately engaged against the victorious invaders. But the Italians, greatly to their credit, had reorganised their broken forces, and, with their left resting on the mountains, had repelled all attempts of the enemy to cross the Piave, swollen with autumn rains. By the end of December the British and French Armies were fully concentrated, and a period of immobility set in, not to be broken for six months. The 48th Division, which formed part of General Haking's 11th Corps, found itself peacefully installed in Army Reserve. Under the clear Italian skies, in the peaceful Venetian plain, moderately well housed and not overworked, their lot was cast in a fair ground. The two halves of the Battalion reunited on 4th December, and finally settled on the 15th December at S. Croce Bigolina, where they remained six weeks. This village is situated just east of the Brenta, about 20 miles north of Padua, where G.H.Q. were established, and a similar distance south of the foothills of the Trentino Alps, where the line ran through the famous plateau of Asiago. Excursions to these hills in small parties for the purpose of reconnaissance formed from time to time a diversion from the ordinary routine of training.

Christmas was celebrated with great festivity. The officers had supplemented the men's rations by a subscription, stores were purchased in Vicenza and Padua, and a cheque of 50 was received from the County a.s.sociation for the same purpose. Dinners, concerts and suppers were provided for the Companies; the officers were given free use of the house of the Parish Priest, who was entertained by them as the guest of the evening. It was the happiest Christmas which had been spent overseas.

With the New Year winter set in with a hard, bright frost, so keen that all the running streams were frozen. Visits of inspection were paid by General Plumer, the popular Commander-in-Chief, and by General Haking, whose kindliness and geniality in chatting to the men as individuals was heartily welcomed. At this time also the gratifying news was received that the commanding officer had been awarded the C.M.G.

On the 24th January the Battalion left S. Croce amidst general regret.

The excellent priest, who had worked with all his will to promote good relations, in a parting message to Colonel Clarke especially commended the honourable and chivalrous relations which had existed between the troops and the women of the neighbourhood. At Paviola, which was reached after a weary march in a misty thaw over roads reduced to quagmires, the Battalion split up again: B and D Companies, with Headquarters remained in the same area, while Captain Challenor with the remainder moved to the Convent di Praglia, south of Padua, in order to supply working parties to the central school at G.H.Q. Here they remained till the end of February, doing every kind of job, to the complete satisfaction of those concerned. Some worked at the quarries, some at a bayonet-fighting a.s.sault course, some at the musketry school, others at the gas school; finding, however, time between their labours to play a number of football matches with neighbouring units.

By the end of the month all were again reunited; their long spell of rest had come temporarily to an end, and on the 27th they took over from the 2nd Queen's (7th Division) reserve lines on the Montello, that well-known hill overlooking the right bank of the Piave, which was one of the key-positions of the Italian line. The next fortnight was spent in this area, about half in the front line. It was an interesting though, fortunately, not a very dangerous experience, as the losses amounted only to one killed and one wounded. The long hill, which stretched for miles to the west of the river, was furrowed with numbers of deep, narrow dells, in which the platoons were housed.

Along the foresh.o.r.e was a series of disconnected posts, every second of which was armed with a Lewis gun. The majority of these were held only at night. They looked across the wide bed of the Piave, which, like all capricious mountain streams, divided into three or four channels, intersected by overgrown islands and beds of s.h.i.+ngle, which heavy rain, as in the June battles, would convert speedily into a roaring torrent. The widest and deepest stream flowed on the enemies'

side. Their inactivity was very marked, scarcely a shot was fired either by day or night, and except for the last day their artillery gave few signs of life. As was proved time after time, the last thing desired by the weary and disillusioned Austrian was to provoke the British.

This interlude was the nearest approach to warfare encountered for many weeks to come. On the night of the 14th March in intense darkness the Italians relieved us without incident, and we turned our backs on the Montello for good. The division now moved west for many days; some short time was spent at a.r.s.ego, but it was not till 3rd April that the Battalion settled down to a three weeks' sojourn at Valle, in the hill country west of Vicenza. The great events, which were shaking the Western Front to its foundations, found no echo here; two British Divisions were, it is true, moved to France, but the 48th was not among them. The Austrians as yet showed no signs of renewing their attacks.

While the Battalion were at Valle they lost their Commanding Officer, Lieut.-Colonel Clarke, who was appointed to command the newly-formed Divisional Machine Gun Battalion. His departure was deeply regretted.

He had led the Battalion through all its serious fighting, and had gained the complete confidence of all. He had kept a strict discipline without worrying the men about trifles; they could all appreciate his administrative ability, his grasp of detail and practical concern for their comfort. We were fortunate in gaining as his successor Colonel Lloyd Baker, of the Bucks Battalion, who had been well-known earlier in the war as General McClintock's Staff Captain, and he brought to his new duties all his characteristic kindness and tact.

Meanwhile the constant exercise in hill-climbing for men and pack ponies, the schemes of attack and defence suggested that our next destination would be northward in the mountains. Nor was expectation falsified; for by the 23rd the Battalion had climbed up out of the warm, showery spring of the valley, and billeted in Italian huts at Granezza, about 4,500 feet above sea-level in storms of snow and hail.

They were in Brigade Reserve immediately behind the lines on the Asiago plateau, which they were destined to guard until the advance to final victory at the end of October.

CHAPTER XXI

MOUNTAIN WARFARE

The new line ran along the forward slope of the hills, which had just been so painfully climbed, and whose reverse sides sheltered in their folds, densely populated with pine forests, the local reserves. The trenches themselves were strangely unlike any as yet inhabited, being blasted out of the solid rock. An impressive and, indeed, magnificent panorama extended itself in front. The valley of the Seven Communes, that curious little tongue of German-speaking territory projecting into pre-war Italy, ran across the foreground. Barren and almost treeless, it had been in the battle-line since the Austrian offensive of May, 1916, which had nearly broken successfully into the Venetian plain. Many villages and hamlets dotted the plain, especially towards the western end, the most imposing of which was Asiago. Though knocked about to a certain extent, they offered a regular and habitable outline as compared with the blank desolation of France. On the further side of the valley the pine-clad shoulders of the mountains were gradually merged in the great snow-covered, cloud-capped bastions of the Alps. Between the lines a vast No Man's Land extended, in many places nearly a mile in width, with miniature hills and valleys, and studded with houses and copses, over which our patrols were able to roam almost at will unmolested. Such was the general calm prevailing that officers in the front line were accustomed to sleep in their pyjamas. The entire casualties during May, most of which month was spent in the line, were three wounded. In a successful raid carried out on the 12th by two platoons of D Company, 2nd Lieut. Stott, slightly wounded, was the only victim. He obtained the M.C. and the Italian Silver Medal for Valour as a reward for his work. It was somewhat difficult to capture the prisoner required for identification, as the only post encountered promptly ran away; one, however, of the elderly Hungarians of the 24th Honved Regiment, who composed it, tripped and fell into a sh.e.l.l-hole, and was carried off by the raiders. The enemy made up for their lack of resistance by bombing their own wire and shouting a.s.siduously until daybreak. On the 22nd the Battalion returned to Cornedo, in the plains; summer had by now fully set in; the vines, the maize, the mulberry and the orange, with many other diverse forms of luxuriant foliage, had completely changed the aspect of the country. The men were glad to wear the suits of drill and the sun-helmet which had now been issued. Thus May merged into June; the fourth great German attack was battering at the gates of Compiegne, but the Italian front had as yet given no sign. On our next visit, however, to the line, it became known that a British offensive was to be launched in the middle of June. The usual conferences and rehearsals took place; detailed orders were issued, the very date became known. It was to take place on the 16th of June.

Twenty-four hours beforehand the Austrians, goaded at length out of their long sleep by the prodding of their Allies, suddenly launched that great attack on practically the whole of the front, which was the last offensive effort of the Hapsburg dynasty. After a somewhat alarming initial success on the Montello and the lower Piave, it changed into a complete failure. We have now to see how it affected the fortunes of our Battalion.

The Austrian attack was planned after the model of Ludendorf's great offensive of March 21st; that is to say, it was preceded by a short but violent bombardment of high explosive and gas directed particularly on the back areas and gun-positions. Its effectiveness was not, however, great, partly owing to the extreme difficulty of searching all the crannies of the mountain country, partly because the level of Austrian efficiency was low. Their gas-sh.e.l.ls, in particular, seem to have been almost innocuous. The sh.e.l.ling began about 3 a.m., and lasted for three hours, when the infantry left the trenches. The two British Divisions in the line, 23rd and 48th, were attacked by portions of four Austrian Divisions; it is said that the latter had been brought up immediately before the battle in lorries, and told that their objective was weakly held by Italians, as their disinclination to face British and French troops was notorious.

However that may be, they advanced against our Division with considerable energy at the outset. The two Battalions of the 145th Brigade in the line were from right to left, the 1st/4th Oxfords and 1st/5th Gloucesters. The enemy succeeded in driving in the outer flanks of both Battalions, and also in pus.h.i.+ng a wedge between them to a maximum depth of about 1,000 yards. But attacking uphill over unfamiliar and blind country, exposed to cross-fire from rifles and machine-guns, and heavily bombarded, their progress was soon arrested.

Our Battalion was in Brigade Reserve, and did useful work during the day in joining hands with the two a.s.saulted Battalions. D Company joined the Oxfords at noon, and suffered some loss during the afternoon while forming up in the open to counter-attack. Here its commander, Captain C. Buck, a good and conscientious officer, was killed. He had served unhurt through the whole of the third Battle of Ypres, and was the only officer whom we lost by death during the Italian year.

Next morning very early, with the co-operation of C Company and one platoon of A, a completely successful advance was made to the old front line. All the heart had now gone out of the enemy, the failure of whose effort was patent. They made scarcely a shadow of resistance, and more than 60 prisoners remained in our hands. During the previous day C Company had been already engaged in stopping the gap between the Oxfords and Gloucesters. The latter, who had been isolated on both flanks, were in danger of complete encirclement during the morning and early afternoon, but extricated themselves and joined hands with C Company at 5.30 p.m.

During the 16th the whole divisional front was without exception re-established, and patrols were pushed forward into No Man's Land; the Austrians continued to surrender in little bodies, until the Division had collected over 1,000, with eight mountain guns abandoned and picked up. The casualty list of the Battalion afforded happy proof of the ineffectiveness of the enemy. We lost no more than five killed and 13 wounded. Thus ended ignominiously the great Austrian attack.

CHAPTER XXII

THE LAST SUMMER

The remainder of June was spent pleasantly in rest billets, disturbed only by the first of the great influenza epidemics, which, pursuing a mild course, resulted in no deaths, but caused the evacuation in all of 112 men. On the 20th the Division lost their Commander, Sir R.