4th Battalion on the Move

Friday 14th December 1917

We have heard from the 4th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, that they are on the move. At the beginning of the month they were training at Houtkerque just on the French side of the border with Belgium west of Ypres. On the 6th they marched south to Godewaersvelde

On 9th they boarded trains for the journey to Miraumont in the northern part of the old Somme battlefield, marching via Ligny-Thilloy and le Transloy, skirting the wasteland of the battlefield itself, to Rocquigny. Yesterday they marched a few miles south-east to Étricourt-Manancourt where they will sleep under canvas tonight.

In two days time they expect to march north-east to Metz-en-Couture ending up on Highland Ridge near Villers-Plouich, ground won from the enemy during the Battle of Cambrai, on 16th of this month, ready to hold the front line over Christmas. They are all delighted.

Source: X550/5/3

More Enemy Movements

Saturday 1st December 1917

The German offensive at Cambrai has been rolling on today but, just like the day after the British attack on 20th November, the steam seems to have gone out of it as our men’s resistance stiffened after the initial surprise. At two o’clock this morning the 8th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, was ordered to withdraw from the line it had formed yesterday and return to Dead Man’s Corner. During this move all was quiet and the Battalion arrived about six o’clock without suffering any casualties and dug in as shown on the map above.

This position was held until the afternoon when orders were issued to withdraw to Lincoln Avenue prior to a move early tomorrow morning to assist in the defence of Highland Ridge against attacks from the east. The front line companies began their withdrawal at 5 p.m.

In Palestine yesterday the 1st/5th Bedfords were again attacked at Beit Nabala. A party of about fifty Turks attacked with bombs. This attack did not quite reach the Bedfords’ position and the fire of Lewis guns caused the immediate retirement of the enemy to lower slopes of the hill. A small counter-attack was launched by the Yellow Devils without loss of time and the enemy retired precipitately. As a final gesture of farewell the Battalion requested and received a barrage from 4.5 inch howitzers on the spot from which it was thought that the enemy had come. Lieutenant H W Cronin was seriously wounded during this attack(1).

Sources: X550/6/8; X550/9/1

(1) He died of his wounds the following day and is buried in Gaza War Cemetery.