Diary of Lindsay Robert Turner, 1918-1919 (Vol. 6) - Part 6

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5/10/18 Several times during the night
was rudely awakened by the familiar
^whirl of the 5.9 and in the morning we
found evidence of a goodly number
quite close to the Bty.  the barrage
opened at 5.55 and lasted for
over two hours most of which
fell on the village of Montbrehain
It was regrettable that we were
compelled to destroy much of a 
Village almost intact because
heretofore these villages have
been quite outside the war zone 

still they are usually the home of

machine guns and must be routed

out before an effective advance can
be made by the Infantry. I returned

to wagon lines during the morning
to "recuperate" after a weeks strenuous 
work at the Guns but one always

appreciates a rest of that nature
whenever it comes along. In the 

afternoon I took a ride thro'
Hargicourt to Templeux to look
for mess stores and had the
opportunity of seeing traffic
 

50
in mass formation. The main road
to Bellicourt is the same continuous 

road over which we had to run the
gauntlet on the memorable "29^th"

and every conceivable vehicle was

following the other in close succession 
I've never seen such congestion

even in such a centre as London
it seems just one endless stream.
All going towards bringing the war

to a succesful issue.

6/10/18. Another disappointment
this morning we has definite
orders to pack up and "pull out"
10 minutes later fresh orders
to go forward and participate 
in another advance another
lapse of 10 minutes and our
instructions this time were to
remain as we were. This was
all very cheerful news because
we hardly knew what to do
then at midday an orderly
flew into our wagon line

mess and hauled out orders
to have the guns and 3000
 

51

rounds of ammunition on a new
position just this side of Raincourt
by tonight as we were to put down
another barrage for an infantry
attack in the morning. This time

the Americans were entering
into the fray. I went up to the
Bty. position just after lunch
and from there walked forward

thro the Beaurevoir defence line
to Raincourt where the French
civilians we saw the other day

were living. There was every

evidence that the Hun never
anticipated being driven beyond
the main Hindenburg Line as
this particular defence line
was quite neglected the trenches
immediately in rear of the one
belt of wire were only a bare
foot deep and must have been
originally erected in case of bare 

necessity. The Crest line we had 
to pass over was under direct
observation which of course
 

52
made it necessary for us to take
guns and ammunition over after
dusk. Today had been set apart as

the day for putting back the clock
an hour and that meant we
had dusk an hour sooner and
the men were quite surprised when

we arrived back at the wagon lines

to find it was only 11.30. Still
it had been a heavy night's work
especially for the horses who are
hardly in a condition to stand
very much hard work now.
7/10/18. The attack didn't eventuate
after all this morning what is 
proposed appears to be an advance
of some magnitude in which tanks
armoured cars Cavalry and Horse
Artillery are participating. The latter
units have been waiting for

more than 3 years for this one
opportunity and now we are
in ideal country for open warfare

here is their opportunity The
Field Artillery have been obliged
so far to do all the breaking thro'
 

53
and are hardly in a condition for

any strenuous mobile work and
personally this is just the type of

fighting I would have preferred It
was a threatening day tho' this
afternoon I went for another ride to 

endeavour to replenish our lader

but mess stores are an unknown
quantity and our own Divisional
Canteen has already "retreated" with

the Infantry. The expected attack
is to eventuate in the morning and
so one would surmise by the

amount of transport and horse
lines in this vicinity. In all 

probability we will have to stand by
first thing in the morning to move
forward and follow the anticipated
advance of the Infantry and Cavalry
8/10/18 just as expected the barrage
went down at 5 and by 7 we
had orders to stand by to move forward
at a moments' notice then commenced
a long and dreary wait with horses
harnessed ready to hooking as soon
as word came thro' all the morning
 

54

long strings of Cavalry constituting

some Bges. went by on the way

up to the scene of action and
at intervals batteries of the R.H.A.
ready to take part in a war after
their own making if only the 

infantry can break up his line of
defence. It is an offensive on 
a large scale without a doubt judging
by the transport passing thro'.  it was 
not until 3 p.m. that we received
the word we had waited for all
day and set out first for the
Bty. position to pick up the Guns. The
front appeared fairly quiet except
for a little shelling from the Eight
where apparently no advance was
made or ever intended. We were to
move forward to the vicinity of
Beaurevoir only that morning
in the hands of the Boche so the
stunt was to some extent successful
It transpired afterwards that tho'
the main objectives were taken has the
Cavalry had not been able to get
thro quickly enough so held off until
 

55
tomorrow. They made a very fine
show as they rode past in half sections
but the Khaki and steel helmet tends
to detract from their personal appearance.
The Scotch Greys exist still but
the main characteristic "the Grey horse"
has temporarily disappeared in its
place there is the eternal camouflage
in this case some form of iodine

very necessary in this hive of campfire

warfare where observation and
machine Gun fire plays so important
a part. In conversation with a
Cavalry Leader I learnt that another
attack by the "Tommies" was pending
for the morning and as a result of that

the Cavalry will go thro' and we hope
make a complete rout of it.
9/10/18. Thro' excellent staff work

we were permitted to arrive at a
selected rendezvous and there learnt
that we had to return to our last
Bty. positions and remain there as
Corps Reserve an ideal way of giving

us a rest for it means we remain

on the spot and when another stunt
 

56
is projected we go into it and so it
goes on and that constitutes air period
of rest. At first it was rumoured
that we were to go back to Herville
some 10 Kilos from Hargicourt but
our present instructions at least are
to remain where we are especially 
since we heard this morning that during
the night the Boche had made a 
precipitate retreat in this particular 
sector. I went back to the wagon
lines with the wagons after hearing
on the way forward that we were
to return and with the information 
I decided to go to bed and
worry not the least about the war.
10/10/18. I set out early to find

out if possible exactly what was
to happen to us but my efforts
were fruitless until I unexpectedly
met a runner from D.A. HQs
who told me that the CRA and 
staff were moving up a fine omen
for our "rest" it surely means moving

up in to the line in three or four
 

57
days time. but the Boche are well
away so they are quite safe in moving
into this area. To be near the Bty.
and so more effectively control it
the major decided to have the wagon
lines transferred to [[Ravicourt?]] so
we moved this afternoon. We were

all together once more and will be very
comfortable if only we can be left alone
The weather appears to be breaking though

for hardly a day goes by that it doesn't

rain However we've been extremely
fortunate so far and with intermittent
spells of fine weather we should accomplish
something before winter sets in.
11/10/18. It was my turn to take on the
onerous duties of Orderly Officer and
when I heard "Reveille" I groaned
inwardly at the mere thought of getting
out as it was raining heavily and
I had the pleasing sensation of sleeping
in an actual bed. The usual type 

of French bed consists of a massive
wooden frame with a huge mattress
resting on innumerable springs and
 

58

one feels more at home than on a
feather bed and to indulge in such a 
luxury under war conditions is apt
to take ones breath away hence my
disinclination to appear on parade
Our horses and harness have been allowed
to get into a very bad state so that was
one of the first things we had to turn
our attention to. Now that winter is

coming on it is of supreme importance
to nurse the horses and unless a
start is made with them in reasonably
good condition we will never be able 
to to carry on mobile warfare.

12/10/18. We are still out resting
and this is the 3^rd day surely we can't
last much longer and tomorrow

being Sunday is our day for moving
somewhere. It continued to rain
making everything disagreeable and 
after two or 3 days rain in France

one has great difficulty in even walking
owing to the slippery nature of the mud.
The Major after waiting several days
has at last received his 7 pass to England
but he has refused to take one as