Handwritten transcript of diaries of Apcar Leslie De Vine, 1 January 1915 - 6 October 1918, Part 15 of 26
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was carrying in my left hand, in my right in adition to
a rifle I had a shovell, everybody is heavy laden with
stores of some kind a certain percentage of which eventually
reach the front line. Those of us who have come safely
through, arrive at our alloted position opposite to our objective
which is the village of Pozieres which is to be taken by the
1st Brigade, supported by the rest of the Division, our right
& left flanks are held by English Divisions. The first-line
of trenches opposite to us are to be taken by the 1st & 2nd Bns
the 3rd to take the 2nd line, & the 4th are to pass through &
occupy the 3rd objective on the outskirts of the valley, where
we are to dig in alongside the main road. Our artillery
have been pouring in a very heavy concentrated fire
all day, which grew to it's maximum intensity before
midnight & lasted untill zero hour 12.30am
23/7/16 Sunday Punctually at 12.30am the artillery
lifted on the second objective, meanwhile the front line
was successfully captured by the 1st & 2nd Bns, after a while
the guns again lifted on to the village and the 2nd objective
was taken by the 3rd Bn. The 4th Bn passing over the newly
captured positions pressed on to the village where C & D Coys
gained their objective and dug in A & B Coys in close support
A Coy dug the communication trench back from the village
to the lately captured trenches behind. The 2nd Brigade is in
reserve. The early hours of daylight are occupied in ratting
out the Germans from their dug outs & cellars in the
ruined village, which by now is simply pounded into dust
The cellars most being underground afford protection for
hundreds of the garrison, we take a large number of prisoners,
also many wounded whom it was not able for them to
transport, owing to our heavy shelling so they all crowded
into the underground shelters. By heavy digging we
strengthen & consolidate the position right through the
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village. We are not interfeared by any counter shelling
during the morning, & we move about the ruins pretty
freely. The German artillery do not know exactly where
the line is, and are not shelling as they may hit their
own posts as they still occupy a few towards the other
end of the village . Our artillery are not sure of the
extent of our advance & cease shelling for the
same reason. At daybreak many of our planes
flew over us trying to pick up our line in the
wreckage, which we endeavour to show them by
lighting small flares at the bottom of the trench
We dig hard well into the morning realising that
as soon as our exact position is found Fritz will
open out on us with his heavies. Our wounded are
carried to some of the deep dugouts for protection &
to wait for an opportunity, to be carried away. There
are many guns knocked out in the village by direct
hits, they have all been badly knocked about. All
of these guns positions have their own dugouts & are
joined together underground by an elaborate system of
tunnelling after the La Boiselle pattern. Many interesting
souvenirs have been found including large numbers of
German helmets complete with their badges, swords,
iron crosses, etc. I found a bugle of a Russian Guard
regiment complete with regimental badge. About
midday the guns started again having found their
new range, & keep up a heavy bombardment for the
rest of the day, on what is left of the ruins, not
one single wall remains standing our artillery preparation
was so complete yesterday that both gun positions &
buildings were completely blown off the map only a
mound of broken bricks & dust now reveal the site
of the village. The wreckage caused by both the
German & our bombardments is absolutely complete
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the village being completely wiped out, this is our first real
experience in France of a modern bombardment. Dead
English & German soldiers are lying about the ruins everywhere,
the "Pommies" have twice before entered the village, each
time failing to hold it, retiring, & left piles of their dead
lying about the ruins everywhere. The shell fire during
the remainder of the day is very intense causing us many
heavy casualties, but we hang on although sitting down
under heavy HE shell fire inactive, is simply awfull and
very nerve shattering. A Co were sent to a support trench
during the afternoon. The Germans attempted a counter
attack during the latter part of the afternoon, advancing
on our left to within 60 yds but were repulsed & turned
back retiring to a position 400 yds away. A Coy reoccupied
the front line at 8pm as we are expecting an attack during
the night. We stand too all night waiting, but nothing
happened although the shelling has increased very considerably
and is the worst that we have yet experienced. Our
casualties are very heavy. D Coy have suffered most
24/7/16 Very heavy bombardment of the village all day, even
heavier than yesterday , fresh guns have been brought up
during the night. Most of the shelling is HE of all calibires
which simply pound our trenches flat killing, wounding, or
burying, nearly everybody has been buried at least once, we
are kept busy digging one another out of the blown up trench
However their guns do not shift us from our position in
the village. At midnight A & B Coy relieve C & D Coys
in the front line. A Coy relieved D. During the relief
A Coy got lost in the ruins of the village, finding it quite
impossible to recognise any semblance of a trench or a
garrison, so we waited in shell holes untill Maj Brown
found out exactly where we were. D Cy were eventually
found scattered in shell holes so we relieved them
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in small groups . A large number of tear shells are
being used during the night, making our eyes very sore
and smart a good deal, the goggles that we have been
issued with are quite useless, so we have to put
up with it. During the night our left flank
connected up with the English Division getting
in touch with the Warwick Regiment, previous to
this we were not sure of our front & posted
men looking both ways. We just mistook the
Warwicks for Germans, & they mistook us, fortunately
the heavy shelling kept both of our heads well down
otherwise we may have inflicted casualties on
one another. The whole of the flat country & the
rear of the advance trenches which we are at the
present time holding, is covered with the dead of
English Regiments, due to the fact that they
were twice repulsed in trying to take the
position, they must have suffered very heavily, &
as the fighting has been continuous since, there
has been no time to collect them, many are in
a shocking condition, & the position is fast getting
very unhealthy. Our Padre Maj McKenzie is doing
some very good work attending to all wounded &
burying the dead under heavy shellfire
25/7/16 At 3am we were taken from the front line &
placed on the left of the village, held by the 2nd Bn. At
5am orders were passed to take with C. Coy, Bn bombers & Lewis
Gunners, about 1000 yds of Kay Trench as far as the
cemetery. This objective is on the 2nd Bns left, this will
enable us to link up across some flat country with an
English Division that are working along a low range of
hills on the left of the village. This we did with few
casualties, the Germans were completely surprised, while
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they were having their early morning rum & coffee, we
enjoyed the coffee instead, they showed very little fight &
surrendered in dozens, many jumped out of their trench &
made a bolt for their own lines near the cemetery thus
providing good sniping for the boys bowled many over,
many hid in shell holes & when they fancied their chance made
a dash for their own lines, thus provided us with good sniping
all the morning. The new trench has been taken by the use
of hand grenades only, which have been terribly effective
in the enclosed space of a trench, leaving it chocked with
the dead & wounded, the dugouts were easily bombed very
many were caught like rats in a trap they had no hope
against the Mills grenades. One of their deepest dugouts
along this trench was fitted out as an officers mess, complete
with a bar etc & many bottles of rum & other spirits , with
large quantities of cigars, all this was very welcome to
us. During the day their artillery was turned onto us & gave
us a pretty bad time the shelling was very heavy & continuous
All day we can see plenty of Germans running about the flat
country in front of us, making a dash for their lines from
various shell holes, dugouts etc where they have been hiding
all day. Many are seen on the sky line as the "Tommys"
drive them before their advance on a low range of hills
Our guns poured plenty of shrapnell on them, keeping them on
the moove. During the evening we are bombarded with
greater intensity than ever, but we still hold onto the
trench although it is considerably knocked about & in some
parts completely flattened out, we have lost many men
during the day in consequence . During the night a patrol
reconoitering in front discovered that a Bn of the Warwicks
were holding a portion of a trench in front of us towards the
left. Night pretty quiet with no attacks, we are expecting
to be relieved during the night
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26/7/16 Very heavy & concentrated artillery fire on our
trench at intervalls during the day, at 5pm it
grew more intense, killing & burying many of the men
Hit on the elbow with a shell splinter nothing serious
We are still holding on to our position despite our very
heavy casualties & have not retired from any part of
the trench captured the previous morning
27/7/16 Relieved just before daybreak at 4am by the
24th Bn. Left our trench and picked our way across
the torn up country now completely filled with shell holes,
to the main road running through Pozieres from Albert
This is the road we came up on the night of the 22nd
it is now simply covered with our dead who are lying
piled on either side, this road being the main
communication with our advance positions, it is
under continuous HE fire, inflicting very heavy losses on
all users of the road, many Bns have had to run the
gauntlet each leaving their dead where they fell
which by now have accumulated to a very large number
We slowly and in small groups make our way to La
Boisette to connect up with the remnants of the Bn
who are all making for this meeting place, after resting
for some time, we leave for the Mametz Wood where we
are given a mug of hot coffee, afterwards we march through
Albert to the brickfields, on the opposite side of the town
where our transport are waiting for is, we camp here for
the rest of the day, lying down on the ground & sleeping
by companies, we all feel completely knocked out, and glad
of the opportunity to take our boots off & get a little
sleep, neither of which we have had since the 22nd, slept
for the rest of the day, resting ourselves, & feel much fresher
Later in the afternoon at 4pm we pack up & move
off, marching further back to Warloy-Baillon. We
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pass through the village of bivouac in Vadencourt
Wood between Warloy & Gentary where we occupy huts
and tents for the night. The Wood has been nicknamed
"Blighty Wood"
28/7/16 Left Vadencourt at 7pm & marched through the
night passing through many villages, slept for a few hours
in an orchard attached to La Vicogne Chateau, we will
be leaving again tomorrow
29/7/16 Left La Vicogne at 9am, marching through the
morning arrived at Bonneville at midday, where we are
placed in billets for the rest of the day, to rest our feet
Managed to get a bath & feel much fresher for it, we
are resting all day
30/7/16 Sunday Left Bonneville at 9am, marched to
Halloy-les-Pernois by midday where we occupied billets
We all enjoyed a swim in the river during the day
Paid 60f - £ 2.3.0
31/7/16 Rest over: Drills have now started. Physical drill
6.15 to 7.00am Parade in the morning 9 to 11 & afternoon 2 to 4
1/8/16 Parades same as yesterday
2/8/16 " " " "
3/8/16 All senior NCOs detailed for bayonet instruction
by a SM of a regular regiment, as this afternoon is a Bn half
holiday, we lost it much to everybodys dissatisfaction, the class
being held from 2 to 4pm
4/8/16 Parades as usuall
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5/8/16 Morning parade only. Sports at the rear of A Coys
billets during the afternoon with a concert in the
evening, we expect to be mooving off soon
6/8/16 Sunday Detailed for ROC, mounting with guard
at 2pm, easy day
7/8/16 Dismounted ROC with old guard 2pm
Nothing doing all day
8/8/16 Physical drill 6.15 to 7am. Morning parade in
full marching order for route march 8.45-11am
Swimming parade 2pm, bathing in the river that
flows through the village
9/8/16 Under orders to moove off full marching order
at 9am, marched for three hours to La Vicogne, slept
for the night under the trees of the same orchard
we occupied on the 28/7/16. Very cold without our
blankets, when we woke up in the morning it was
raining steadily. We are very wet & cold, and are on
our way back to the trenches again having been out
of the forward area since 27/7/16
10/8/16 Packed up for marching off at 9am, the roads
are very muddy we arrive at Herissart at 12 noon
where we billet for the night, we may be here for
a few days
11/8/16 Parades today 9am & 2pm
12/8/16 Parades today. Physical drill 6-6.30am, morning
parade 9-11, afternoon parade 2-4pm
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13/8/16 Sunday Full Brigade parade in a field beyond
the village. General Birdwood attended the church
parade which was first held, afterwards distributed
MC & DCM ribons to the winners of these distinctions
afterwards making a long speech, congratulating the Brigade on
their work at Pozieres etc. After giving 3 cheers for the General
we returned to our billets, rest of the day off
14/8/16 Physical drill 6.15-6.45, morning parade 9-11 orders
for full marching order at 2pm, full & marched off
at 2.30pm, as we marched off a heavy shower commenced
and as we were not wearing overcoats we all got very wet
Marched to Vadencourt Woods occupying some huts as
we did on 27/7/16. We are moving off again tomorrow
15/8/16 Left camp full marching order at 8.30am and
marched direct to Albert arriving there at midday, after
resting in a field for about an hour or two. I took this
opportunity to visit the BEF canteen in Albert to buy a
few things especially chocolate to take up to the line
arrived back at our bivouac just in time to find
the Bn under orders to move off in half an hours time,
just had time to get myself into battle order , when we
had to "fall in" without even being issued with rations
orders arrived very suddenly. It is now raining heavily so
we wear our WP sheets without overcoats, which we
leave in our packs with the transport. We march
off at 3.30pm without time to get a bite to eat
although a hot dinner has been prepaired in the Coy
cookers. A & B Coys with half the Bn Lewis Gunners & bombers
move off and march through Albert towards Pozieres. The
firing line has been pushed further on since we were there
last. being now at Meuquet Farm in front of Martinpuich
well over the ridge we left in German hands on 27/7/16
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We relieve the 50th Bn, and are being continually shelled
throughout the night. No infantry attacks. C & D Coys
will eventually relieve the 51st Bn, on our right thus
making the Bn front continuous
16/8/16 Managed to get a good view at daylight of the
surrounding country, which is simply a mass of shell holes
& ruins all jumbled up together making huge piles of
wreckage, the shells have fallen so closely & thickly that
there is hardly a yard of country that has not been
covered. We are only in a very rough trench, which
is continually being shelled thus blowing it up at
intervals. Large shells continually falling on some part of it
cause casualties all day. We cannot very well distinguish
the German lines as they have been so much knocked
about by our shell fire, that all the country around
looks the same, all we know is that they are
holding a line of shell holes & position of battered
trenches very close to our front, however they keep
pretty quiet during the day, seldom firing a shot, but
their artillery is very active, continually searching
over the ground with HE shells. We had an
exciting night as we were attacked on our left
causing us to " stand too" all night with many alarms
but they did not attack on our Coy front, we were
subject to continuous heavy shelling all night
17/8/16 Artillery not very active during the morning
we suffered many casualties during the night
due to the shelling which was very constant
We saw several of our aeroplanes engaging German
Fockers over our lines during the day, one
German burst into flames falling just over a
ridge on our left, before he struck the ground
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