Frontline Books, 2010, 241 pages (purchase by Pen and Sword)
ISBN 978-1-84832-563-0
This excellent memoir written by a Guardsman has an introduction by Professor Peter Simkins. As Peter points out, this memoir is a rarity as most Guards' memoirs were written by officers and, secondly, this memoir covers 1917-18, a period in the war which is poorly represented in memoirs and autobiographies.
Guardsman Frederick Elias Noakes (Fen to his family) went through the tumultuous 1918 period of the Great War - he experienced both the spring offensives of the Germany Army and the '100 Days'. He had been refused in 1914 when he volunteered at the age of 17, and later on medical grounds (he had asthma) in 1915 and 1916. But in 1917 he was accepted after he had improved his general health by taking long country walks and exercises. He was assigned to the Household Battalion of the Guards and his training began in earnest.
Fen was an excellent writer and his story never fails to absorb the imagination of his reader, whether it is training, his travelling to France in October 1917 or his first experience of trench warfare (the Household Battalion was part of 4th Division) near Arras. He points out that the regular routine (four days in the Front Line, four days in Support, eight days in Reserve and a fortnight 'out of the Line') was seldom adhered to and his battalion could be assigned duties in what appeared to be a haphazard manner. In early 1918, Fen was invalided out of the line by an American MO and sent via train from Duisans to an American Red Cross hospital at Le Tréport, just outside Dieppe. On 1 March 1918 he was passed as fully recovered and found himself part of the re-organised BEF on his arrival at the Base at Harfleur. The Household Battalion had been disbanded and he had a choice of battalions - as long as it was within the Guards Division. Fen elected to join the Coldstream Guards, where he was assigned to the 3rd Coldstreams. His battalion was now part of the 4th Guards Brigade, 31st Division.
It was with 3rd Coldstream that Fen experienced the full force of the German Spring Offensive which began on 21 March 1918. In an inspired piece of writing, Fen describes the chaos resulting from the attack. First, Reveille at 0330, parade and march at 0530, followed by deployment along the St Pol road at 0815. Taken by ASC lorries, his battalion digs in outside Boisleux-St Marc just after sunset. By midnight they had been marched to new trenches which Fen believed were between the villages of Hamelincourt and St Leger. After a day here they are moved to a new position lower down the slope. It was here they were hit by a British artillery barrage, as a spotter plane had incorrectly identified their trench as occupied by German troops. After being wounded Fen found his way to a Dressing Station at Ayette. An ambulance took him onto Doullens from where he was moved on by train to a hospital camp near Wimille. Here his treatment was in the hands of the Australians.
Rejoining the 3rd Coldstreams in June, he was to find that he had been reported 'dead or missing' as his section had been wiped out by a shell the day after he was wounded. Both 3rd and 4th Coldstream Battalions had suffered such severe losses that they had been withdrawn from the line and re-formed as a 'composite' battalion and, still as 4th Guards Brigade, were now part of GHQ reserve, unattached to a Division but forming a depot from which to recruit to the Guards Division as occasion required.
After a short spell on the coast near Criel where his battalion were 'practised on' by new, recently-commissioned officers (under the watchful eye of their own sergeants), Fen was entrained for Abbeville where he joined the 1st Coldstream Battalion in September. He was now in the 'big push' as the Guards Division (Fen's battalion was part of the 2nd Guards Brigade) knocked the Germans back as part of Third Army's advance between Albert and Arras. By late September the advancing troops were 'unable to find the enemy' as 'Fritz had withdrawn'. They did find the enemy at the Canal du Nord and 1st Coldstream were in reserve during the initial stages of the battle which opened on the 27 September aimed to break the Hindenburg Line. Fen describes the battle, first as a spectator, then as a participant. It was in this action that Captain Frisby (1st Coldstream) called for volunteers to join him in rushing and bombing a machine gun post which was holding up the advance over the Canal. Frisby and Cpl Jackson were awarded Victoria Crosses for their bravery in this action.
After rest and refitment, Fen and his battalion went into the line again in October at Wambaix, near Cambrai. It is here that Fen was wounded in the leg, again by friendly fire, that is by a badly ranged British shell. Walking to the Dressing Station, he reported to the Brigadier-General who was debriefing all walking wounded. Then it was an ambulance ride to the Casualty Clearing Station where his leg is examined again and re-dressed. Later, he was moved further back to the coast, via Etaples, and he ended up at the 4th General Hospital at Camers. This really was the end of Fen's war, and he convalesced at Cayeux where previously unnoticed mustard gas burns swelled up. After they fail to respond to treatment, he is sent to Abbeville as a special case. This new treatment was successful and he returned to Cayeux in time for the Armistice on 11 November 1918.
Fen was not 'demobbed' until October 1919, after he had served in the occupation forces in Cologne. The Guards Division was amongst the last to be demobilised as it was felt it should be kept up to full strength until new recruits had been trained. Fen returned to the family business (drapery), wrote his memoir in the early 1950s and passed away in April 1953 at the relatively early age of 57.
This memoir is full of delightful stories which reflect Fen's approach to war, heroism, bullying and poor management as well as his delight in serving his part in the Allied Victory of 1918.
Review submitted by Peter J Palmer
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