Days of Reckoning - Pilkem

Albert is still here chums, I'm in one piece and safe and sound at last. My God I thought I'd been through hell and seen the worst that man can do to fellow man but the attack on Pilkem Ridge was utter carnage. It was hand to hand fighting, bombs, bullets, bayonets and anything else that came to hand.

I last wrote to you on the 6th, the day we were moving up to provide support for an attack on the Hun line by the Rifle Brigade and the Somersetshire Light Infantry. Well chums I ended up, my Battalion ended up, right in the middle of it, taking on the Hun face to face in the same trenches. What a bloody caper it was.

I've not been of good sorts following the attack, the battalion ended up being decimated again. We went in with almost a full strength battalion and came out with 17 Officers and 380 other ranks dead, wounded or missing. We had only just got back up to strength after the gas attacks of May. We went in with 22 Officers and 780 other ranks. This jaunt to Pilkem has cut the battalion in half! That's a second time in the space of two months! Some good blokes and pals of mine have met their end.

Well chums I've licked my wounds and I'm ready to tell the story of Pilkem. I'm at rest  with whats left of the battalion at a place called Proven. How apt is that? We've certainly proven ourselves at Pilkem! Over the next few days I'll post the prelude, the battle and then the aftermath.

I feel incredibly lucky, I've now survived two major devastations of the battalion. God knows how I've managed it.

Well chums to start the ball rolling our top brass were told of the transfer of the battalion to the 11th Brigade for the attack on Pilkem well before the rest of us. Whilst we were at  rest in early June at Vlamertinghe our senior officers were informed. Our numbers were built up from that date to enable us to be an effective fighting force.

On the 4th and 5th of July all the officers and platoon sergeants were moved up to the 11th Brigade Headquarters. They travelled in G. S. Waggons and had a pretty bumpy ride on the cobbled Belgium roads. Guides were allocated to them and they were then taken up to see the trenches. At this time they were in a pretty good condition. There was said to be smell of gas in the air due to some gas shells having been fired into this are by the Hun on the previous day.

Having surveyed the lay of the land and the nature of the trenches the senior officers attended a top brass meeting where plans for the attack were discussed. They then returned with the platoon sergeants to meet us at Elverdinghe on the 6th. This is when we were informed of our destiny.

So chums I'll write tomorrow of our move into the front trenches and the lead up to the  bloody battle. I have an aerial photo of the trenches, this is it.

Pilkem Trenches 1915

The canal can be seen on the left and the British front line is bottom left to the right of the canal. It's the white line with 4 branches to the left leading to the canal and 2 to the right into no man's land. I'll try and get a map excerpt showing the same area and put in my next post.

I'll say goodbye until tomorrow,

Albert x