Desperate bid to dig out comrade buried by collapse of trench failed

On February 3, there was an exciting episode when a French pilot landed his machine near to the 12th Bn. Apparently he had ‘lost his way’ and had to stay the night.

The next day, the Frenchman repaid (one assumes) the officers of the Bn. for their generosity. The war diary records:

“French pilot took the following officers for a short trip in the aeroplane:- Lt. Col. G. Bull, Captain G. Thompson, 2nd Lts. Hanson, Moore and Stuart.”

Frivolities over, the Bn. marched into billets at Mesnil (a village behind British lines) on February 8, taking over from the Rifle Brigade.

A three day ‘settling in’ period followed but on February 10, a German aeroplane ‘with British marks’ dropped four bombs on Mesnil, killing one man and wounding three others.

The next day, the Bn. relieved the 9th R.Ir. Fus. in the right sector of the trenches with the village of Hamel as Bn. HQ.

The diary notes: “The 8th Yorks are on the right and 13th R. Ir. Rifles on the left. Relief was complete at 10pm. Night very quiet with the wind from the S.E.”

After their long period in the rear, the Bn. was ‘welcomed’ to their new positions at 10am on February 12 when the Germans put 12 field gun shells into their lines. One man was wounded and British artillery retaliated on the enemy trenches opposite. It was a pattern which would become all too familiar.

Later that day more shells were fired at an MG position on the trench known as Jacob’s Ladder but no damage was done. Later on what was described as a fine sunny day, British guns bombarded Beaucourt Station. Inevitably, the Germans fired on Mesnil by way of retaliation.

From Feburary 12 to February 15, the days passed in a cycle of trench making and mending, especially along the notorious Jacob’s Ladder communication trench which ran from Mesnil to Hamel and then onwards to the front line.

Much of this area was easily observable to the Germans opposite and the sector suffered from artillery and machine gun ‘strafes’ on a daily and sometimes hourly basis.

For instance, at 8.10pm on February 14, a German machine gun fired at intervals on Hamel, wounding one man in the leg.

A combination of shelling and atrocious weather conditions weakened many trenches and the war diary recorded a fairly common tragedy which occurred around 6am on Feburary 15.

“Trenches fallen in in many places and especially trench no. 38. One man was buried in a sap and was dead before he could be rescued.”

The 12th R. Ir. Rifles, like all units in the British front line, was tasked with patrol duties. These were sent out with the objective of gathering information about the lie of the land, new German fortifications or simply to listen in silence for any information which could be gleaned from talkative Germans on the other side of no man’s land.

More often than not, these patrols achieved little of significant importance. For instance on the night of February 15 it was reported: “A coy sent out a patrol opposite trench 40 but it encountered nobody nor did it hear any work going on.”

Two lines in the war diary hardly seems to sum up the tension which must have accompanied any foray into the killing zone between the opposing lines.

Sniping was another aspect of trench warfare which claimed many lives. Both sides regularly tried to pick off their enemies and any soldier who exposed himself in the front line was asking for a bullet.

On February 15, the 12th Rifles’ war diary records a ‘success’ for the Central Antrims.

“Our snipers at the Stone Bridge shot a German coming out of a sap about 150 yards east of the Mill. Two others who were following him ran away.

“A dog remained for about an hour near the place where the first man was shot.”

The Mill mentioned in the above entry was a building near the River Ancre – the largish stream and marsh which separated the 12th Rifles from their comrades in the rest of the Ulster Division who were entrenched on the Thiepval Wood bank of the river.

Patrols from both sides regularly scouted the area around the Mill and it features prominently on contemporary trench maps.

‘Wet and stormy’ are the most common weather descriptions for this ‘tour’ by the 12th Rifles and the entire Bn. must have been delighted when they were relieved in the front line by their 108 brigade comrades from the 9th R. Ir. Fus on February 17.

The men trooped into billets at Mesnil around 9pm.

Over the next few days, the Bn. stayed at Mesnil. Sporadic shellfire struck the village but seems to have caused little inconvenience to the men.

Bad weather seems to have ensured that the troops were not called on for working parties, which must have been a considerable relief to men who had just endured harsh conditions in the trenches.

Their respite, however, was over by February 23 and at 8pm they marched back to the line in front of Hamel.

For the next few days, the Bn. experienced the ‘daily grind’ of Western Front life in wintertime. Trenches were pumped out and repaired, sudden bombardments struck the lines and men fought nature herself.

Snowfall had one positive aspect as patrols were cancelled because they could be easily detected against blanket of white which covered the ground.

On February 24, just before midnight, soldiers at Lancashire Post (the far right of the Bn’s line) were subjected to a rifle grenade attack by the Germans. One of the bombs failed to explode and this was passed on to the Grenadier (bombing) officer for examination.

In the days that followed, the 12th Rifles endured snow, sleet, rain and frost. They continued to fight a battle of attrition against the elements and the human enemy who sprayed their lines with machine gun fire or blasted the area with high explosive.

On 26th February, it is recorded that a man at Castor Post died a natural death – ‘he had always been troubled with asthma’.

Life in the trenches was not for those with a weak consitution. Exposure to the elements did take a grim toll but it is also worth mentioning that many ‘town boys’ recorded that the outdoor life was exhilarating.

In fact, many would remember that their physical health had never been better. In the army they were amply fed, albeit with mainly monotonous rations such as ‘bully beef’ or ‘Machonicie’s Stew’. In civilian life, many would have existed on a relatively meagre diet in comparison.

Day followed day with the traditional ‘situation normal’ typifying the diary accounts. Regular recordings of weather and state of trenches and communications.

On February 27, the Rifles were relieved by the 9th R. Irish Fusiliers. The relief began at 7pm and was completed by 8.55pm. No casulaties were incurred.

The battalion were billeted at Engelbemer where their rest period was interrupted on February 29 by a German pilot who dropped two bombs on the village.

“Otherwise the situation was normal all day.”