Diary of Alexander Sutherland Mackay, 5 March 1918 - 7 September 1918 - Part 5

Wagon Lines today. Last night up there
we slept in a cellar. Fritz shelled the
village a good deal & as usual nowadays
dropped his aeroplane eggs pretty consistently.
However we dodged acquaintance with
both shells & bombs French Canadians are
holding this front, they talk both English
& French well lucky beggars. They are very
bitter with Fritz on account of him
bayoneting some of their wounded. God
help Fritz if they get a chance no prisoners
will be taken. Our crowd are now
simply waiting orders we nay go in or
out at a moment's notice. Little rest can
be looked for during this mobile stunt.
16/8/18. Still at the Wagon Lines here no
word of a shift so far. They are hanging fire
awaiting orders, ready to leave at any
moment. I suppose we will only get about
an hours notice, when the orders
do arrive. Fritz was over as usual bombing
all round last night. He is nursing his
planes solely for the purpose now, you
seldom see him of a day. They flock over
of a night bombing all the Battery
positions & back areas. Our crowd are no
doubt fully engaged on the same stunt
as you seldom hear any scrapping going
on whilst they are over bombing.
17/18/19 Augt. Still camped near the Canal awaiting
instructions. Some rumours give out we are going
back to our previous position, others out for
a spell. I should think we will hear definitely
today, its unlikely they will keep us hanging
here long, it will be either at it, or get
out of it. Had some glorious swims in
the Canal. No shells or bombs so far, it's
been too cloudy of a night for Fritz to
 

operate much. We hear he is doing
his utmost to bomb the Ammunition Dumps
he recently let fall into our hands. Our
crowd are on the alert & are now working
Batteries composed solely of enemy guns.
Struck Ron again, he is camped close
handy, we have had some long yarns
over our past military careers.
20/8/18 Went over last night to see Ronnie again
but found he had gone to the 16^th A.A.S.C.
We are going into action again tonight, & have
been standing to since dinnertime waiting orders
to move. Nothing to hand so far (4 pm).
A tremendous amount of traffic on the road
xx I believe the tanks all went up last night
This is evidently going to be a stunt
of some size. They seem to think this
will end our share for a time & that we
go out for about 90 days. However we've
heard that yarn before so we can only
wait & hope for it. We have been nearly
13 weeks now in action practically the
whole time. Feeling very cheap today,
have a rotten cold.
21/8/18. Left yesterday afternoon about 5 pm
with Ammunition to the new posie. The
guns went straight to the new Wagon
Lines & waited there the night. We got
back with the Limbers about 10 oclock.
It was bright moonlight, but for
some unexplained reason Fritz was not
over bombing. Had a good sleep last
night & came to the new position about
11 am this morning, the guns will come
up at dusk.
22/8/18. The guns arrived last night
& pulled in on the edge of a road
under some trees, on the outskirts of
 

Mericourt-sur-Somme. Fritz has been
shelling the village a good deal & has been
trying to locate some sixty pounders
at the back. So far he has left us alone
although a few of his big stuff - 8 inch,
came rather close for comfort. We had
a 2½ hr shoot but I fancy it was
more in preparation of a stunt
tomorrow & to help one going on
to the right flank this morning.
23/8/18. Had a stunt this morning
very successfull, 460 odd prisoners
passed through the dressing station close
by here xbut I hear they estimate
the total taken is about 2000. & all
objectives taken. Some of the prisoners
here were regular school youngsters,
they employed a lot as stretcher
bearers. It was rather amusing to
watch each batch arriving, one of the prisoner
batches would recognize some friends & then
there would be handshakes all round
mostly with the left dook. As usual
with the exception of one or two, all were
laughing & quite happy to be taken in.
One big [[pot?]] an Officer, was evidently
lamenting his fate & appeared to be
rousing on some of his own men, until
the guard, one of our [[?]] about 4 feet nothing
gave him a gentle root, thereby informing
him it was time to shift on. Naturally
you strike all sorts in the prisoners,
some boyish, refined & exceptionally good
looking. Other gents xxxxx quite eligible,
judging by their dials, to perform any
of ^the Hunnish deeds weve heard of, in
the past, without a tremour. We are
 

expecting orders to shift tonight, whether
forward or back remains to be seen. Im
tipping the former as a winner.
24/8/18 Moved forward at 6 am this morning
about a mile. We got orders to shift
late last night. Fritz hasn't shelled
so far, but I guess it will be a hot
crib should he do so, little protection
obtainable. There is some village
in front across the Canal & a ridge
behind that. Fritz has evidently been
shoved some distance behind the
ridge. A lot more prisoners came
in yesterday afternoon so our fellows
must have been going strong. His
casualties were very heavy in killed
I believe, so with the prisoners taken
he must have a nasty taste in
his mouth. Bombs are our
chief source of worry nowadays, shells
are not nearly as troublesome.
25/8/18 Got orders this morning at
5 am to shift forward. Fritz bombed
as usual last night but his shells
were chiefly confined to the village
- "Etinehem" in front. We did not move
forward until 11 am, starting off. we
had to halt on top of a ridge overlooking
"Bray" owing to two of his
Balloons being up. Bray is in a
valley & the picture put the wind
fair up us. Fritz was shelling all
the ridges round it, wherever you
looked, you saw bursting shells. We
got word there that our Major had
been knocked, not seriously I believe
a piece in the back. He had gone
on before the column. We are all very
 

sorry to lose him, as he was a
tiptop fellow & gave everybody a good
spin. Major Walker was his name.

After about 1/2 hours wait on the ridge

they decided to carry on & came down

a steep hill & passed though Bray

to a ridge on the other side. Talk about

luck 10 to 15 minutes after we passed

through, Fritz concentrated on Bray

itself, we were watching the brick

houses & timber going up in the air.

A little earlier, he would have settled

all our column. This place has only

just been taken from him, he returns

but periodically stops & gets his guns 

into action. We anticipated a lively

night but fortunately he got another

shove back. We had a miserable

night, all our dugouts have been

hurriedly constructed, another fellow

myself dug a hole in the side of a

small back bank, but a thunderstorm

came up & practically drenched everybody

blankets & all. We had a rotten

tarpaulin up but the first wind

settled it. We sat huddled up in

our hole until 4am this morning

when the rain knocked off. We

then shook some hay spread it

out & managed to secure about 2 hrs

sleep. All Fritz shells chiefly

gas were going overhead stonkering

Bray & the surrounding roads.

It was a sight from here yesterday 

afternoon whilst he was shelling. All

the roads were busy with limbers

drawing guns, bringing up Ammunition

or returning empty. A Sch Shell would

bob land on a road either in front

or behind a number of wagons, & then

the race commenced. Teams galloped

away from or right through the smoke

of the shell before he got his second

shot. At times you had to wait until

the smoke cleared, to see if he had

dropped a team. We saw some

marvellous escapes & after all his

shots only one team hit. The rain

last night settled all bombing operations

although he gave me on start. I

stood u to stretch myself & a

gas shell whizzed about a yard over

my head lobbing about 20 yards away

I was quite contented to have cramps

for the next hour. He is not

shelling nearly so much today & is

probably shifting his guns back. I

suppose we will have to follow the

swab on. We have had a very long

shift in action this time, but I

think nearly all realize its a case

of keep at him now until he

gets to some definite line, before

the Winter arrives. Feeling very

much inclined for a hot bath, change

of clothing & a shave. The last named

is the only possible starter, so I'll 

get it going.

26/8/18. Fritz has been fairly quiet today

& has retreated. Our guns are now nearly

firing at extreme range so we will

be shifting shortly Raining off ne but

we managed to fix our dugout up today

w so are safe for a dry sleep.

27/8/18 Shifted forward again today, past

Suzanne to a high ridge, not far from

Fritz's front line. As we arrived he

put over a good few whizzbangs & some

of the teams had close shaves. All hands

are now busy digging in for the night.

28/8/18 Had a fairly good sleep last

night, we had a stunt this morning

& made Fritz retire again. Its rather

a work of art keeping up with him

but he appears to be retiring in an

orderly fashion. Of late although getting

back country, we have not captured

many guns or prisoners & you see very

few dead about. Whether he makes it

a practise to clear away the casualties

I do not know. I've seen a good number

of prisoners going past acting as stretcher

bearers today, but have not heard any

definite news as to this morning's stunt.

We have increased our considerably

since morning but I doubt if we

will shift forward again today. I

hope not as its raining off & on. This

chasing stunt is alright in fine

weather but no good otherwise. We

had one man wounded today, slightly

in the shoulder. Weather too squally

& unsettled for Aeroplanes or Balloons.

Fritz is juts having one of his mad

moments throwing shots all over the

shop (3pm).

29/8/18. Shifted forward again today

about 2 miles. Fritz is just sending

his stuff over galore on the roads.

Teams & horses galloping in all directions

its simply marvellous to watch the

creatures. We are digging in in an

old Trench. A number of Infantry are

camped alongside.

30/8/18. Did not fire about w0 rounds

last night. Fritz retired again & left

us beyond range. We came forward

again this morning & it promises to

be a hot posie. Fritz appears to

be making a stand at last, & has been

shelling all round all day long.

He has evidently planted down some

of his 5.9^s, splinters are humming

continuously its a case of keep under

cover. This was apparently a happy

home for Fritz, we've struck some

bonser dugouts. I think ours would

stop a 4.2. Just below us there

is a big dump- they collared a 

good deal of heavy ammunition & one

8 inch gun, the first, since the

xxxx first days push. Ive seen.

31/8/18. Fritz continued his shelling

all day yesterday, unfortunately one of

our men- a cook named Kempston was

killed. During the night he sent

some gas over, we woke up sneezing

& had to don our masks for about

10 minutes. We had a stunt this

morning, we hear the 2^nd Divy

got a good few prisoners including

some heads. Fritz has returned again

& that means us shifting on again

tonight. I dont relish night shifts

as the first night in a fresh posie

nowadays is generally the worst

Looking very much like rain, hope

it keeps off until we reach the new

position. Getting very close to Peronne

now, they will probably take it tonight

1/9/18. Shifted forward again last

evening, the escapes this time were simply

miraculous. Fritz was shelling the roads

particularly one corner round which

we turned. The teams took the corner

at the gallop & all got through. He

then started on the gully we crossed

to get to our present ridge, with 4.2

Whizzbangs & gas. He lobbed a gas

shell right along side one of our teams

The only result being one man gassed

no other casualties to personnel or horses

He left the posie murky until late

at night, we all had to lie low.

We had a stunt this morning, the

official news so far is - one whizzband

Battery complete, 200 prisoners & still

going ahead. From all accounts Fritz

has his best troops here viz. the

Prussian Guard. Our Infantry tell us

that during yesterday morning stunt, it

was a solid fight, Fritz fought a

treat but went down before our boys.

I believe the trenches in the gully just

in front are full of dead Fritzs. Our

men hadn't time to take prisoners

It was all in. They say our casualties

were not light, but Fritz's were

10 times greater. On our right

flank the enemy recaptured Mons St

Quinton yesterday, but x our 2nd Divy

took it again this morning. Peronne

will no doubt fall any moment. This

morning's stunt was only a preliminary

for a big event coming off tomorrow

morning, I believe. So now we stop

here for the night, yesterday we pulled

in, in the full view of two of

his Balloon observing. Luckily we

were in position before his guns swill

switched round from the corner of the

roads. Every posie will be worse

now, as Fritz is doing his utmost

to stem the tide.

2/9/18 fritz is so much quieter today, he

sent a good few over this afternoon trying

to get the roads. Fortunately he got both

sides - but missed the roads, they were

simply lined with traffic. Some

sixty pounders pulled in behind us

this afternoon, they're a flaming nuisance

when they shoot, the concussion brings

down all the walls of our dugouts. We

had another stunt this morning against

all objectives besides 300 prisoners to

date. They have at last pulled our

Infantry out of the line for a while. 

Poor beggars have had a rough spin

& are sadly in need of reinforcements. We

have a sporting chance of being pulled

out tomorrow as at present we have

no sector to shoot on of our own. Both

flanks have closed in & wiped our

sector out.

3/9/18 fritz was over bombing last

night, dropped one or two rather

close. He also during the night

scored a direct hit with a 4.2 on

one of the 60 pounders behind us.

Luckily they were not shooting at the

time. Raining off now. We ate

awaiting orders now they all think

its a certainty we will pull out today

Have seen no papers but hear the

Canadians advanced some 12 kilos

into North. Thats the stuff to give