Armageddon Road: A VC's Diary, 1914–1916

By Billy Congreve

Billy Congreve was an exceptional soldier and an exceptional man. By the time he was killed on the Somme in July 1916 at the age of twenty-five he had been awarded the DSO, MC, and the Lgion d'Honneur, and for his many deeds of gallantry on the Somme, a posthumous VC.Born into a military family (his father General Congreve had also won the VC) he became a regular soldier in the Rifle Brigade before the war, and in France became a staff officer, but one who chose to be in the front line as often as he could. This makes his remarkable diaries all the more valuable since he writes from the thick of the fighting and yet retains an objectivity that enables him to observe all that is going on around him both in the trenches and at headquarters.Terry Norman carefully edited the diary to set his story in the context of the war, and thus provide an exceptional picture of what an officer thought of the conduct of the war side by side with his personal grief at the loss of his friends and the wastage of human life.Out of print for over 30 years, this special centenary edition of this classic work includes a new foreword from esteemed military author Nigel Cave, as well as an expanded introduction from Terry's widow, Joan and a newly designed plate section. Detailing the extraordinary exploits of a truly remarkable man during the first two years of the war, this book is a compulsive purchase for all fans of the period.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Aug 18, 2014
• ISBN: 9781473838741

Book preview

ARMAGEDDON RO

AD

A VC’S DIARY 1914–19

16

B I L L Y   C O N G R E V E

E D I T E D   B Y   T E R R Y   N O R M A N

First published in Great Britain in 1982 by William Kimber & Co. Limited

Reprinted in this format in 2014 by

PEN & SWORD MILITARY

An imprint of

Pen & Sword Books Ltd

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Copyright © Joan Norman and the Estate of William Congreve, 1982, 2014

ISBN 978 1 47382 119 4

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Contents

Introduction to 2014 Edition

List of Sketch Maps and Diagrams

Acknowledgements

Introduction

1)

Tipperary – A Long Way to Go

2)

On Divisional Staff

3)

The Crunch at Neuve Chapelle

4)

Ypres Salient

5)

Entrenchment of Trench Warfare

6)

Spring Offensive and St Eloi

7)

Gas and ‘Second Ypres’

8)

Again the Salient

9)

Brigade-Major

10)

Journey’s End

Notes

Index

Introduction to 2014 Edition

This very fine diary of an extraordinary young officer was first published in 1982 and reprinted in 1983; it was very well edited by Terry Norman, who came across the diary when he was working on his book on one of the bloodiest parts of the Somme battlefield of 1916 – The Hell They Called High Wood; for it was during the associated fighting, on 20 July 1916, that William la Touche Congreve was killed.

The diary provides a fascinating mixture of material, revealing his close and affectionate family life, his heart felt reaction to the loss of friends, his almost forensic analysis of many of the actions in which he was involved – accompanied, in many cases, by very fine sketch maps, critiques of some of the commanders, battalions and formations, his sense of humour and an insight into a young officer who in rather less than two years served as an ADC to several divisional commanders, was a G Ops staff officer and, finally, the job that he prized above all the others, that of a brigade major. He provides a useful commentary from one who was more ‘in the know’ than most other officers, supplemented by close contact with his father who was, in the same time period, General Officer Commanding a brigade (18), a division (the 6th) and a corps (XIII).

William Congreve came from a family with a rich military background. One of his ancestors invented the Congreve Rocket, an improved version of rockets used in India by Tippoo Sahib (or Tipu Sultan) against the British and which went on to feature in the British capture of Washington in the war of 1814. Because of this family connection with rockets, William’s father, Walter, earned the nickname ‘Squibs’.

Walter Congreve, whilst serving in the Rifle Brigade in the South African war, won the Victoria Cross at Colenso in 1899 for his bravery in saving a couple of guns from capture. His mother also came from a military background; indeed, almost as soon as war broke out in 1914 she got herself abroad and served as a Red Cross nurse and driver in Antwerp, amongst one of the last to leave the city before its fall in October. She continued nursing in a hospital south of Paris. William’s middle brother, Geoffrey, was a midshipman in the early days of the Second World War; he went on to win the DSO during the Norway campaign in 1940 and was killed whilst engaged in operations off France in 1941. The youngest son, Christopher John, actually visited the trenches near Hooge in August 1915 with his father (then a divisional commander) when only twelve years old; proudly wearing his Boy Scout uniform, his appearance doubtless caused a sensation amongst the men in the line.

William Congreve was born in 1891 and followed a conventional school career for someone of his social standing and background, though he went to Eton rather than to Harrow, his father’s school. He contracted rheumatic fever when he was young and spent some time convalescing with family friends, the Hudsons – Edward Hudson was the founder of Country Life. Their home, the completely redesigned and largely new Lindisfarne Castle, was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, also to become a firm family friend. William made such an impact on the Hudsons, who were childless, that they named him as heir to the castle.

Congreve never returned to formal schooling. Instead he went to a crammer from the age of fifteen to prepare him for Sandhurst (possibly as a consequence of his illness, though special preparation for Sandhurst was quite common) and by which time he had grown into a very tall, rather gangling looking man, well over six feet. At Sandhurst he excelled and passed out second. Commissioned, as was his father, in the Rifle Brigade, he went to Tipperary, Ireland to serve with the third battalion.

William Congreve was a faithful diarist until an accidental fire at the end of November 1915 destroyed his recent entries. That night he wrote: ‘I don’t feel much inclined now to go on with a diary. So much that was interesting was burnt, all the September 25th fighting up at Hooge; and I can’t be bothered to write it all out again.’ Fortunately, he did, but only briefly as the time that he needed to devote to it was probably consumed by his task as a brigade major.

The closeness of the family to which he belonged is reflected in his diary – affectionate references to his mother and his younger brothers, respect and love for his father, comments about his wider family. Perhaps one of the most touching of these relates to his uncle, Major Arthur King, 4/Rifle Brigade, who was killed on 15 March in a counter attack on the Mound at St Eloi. Congreve urged others to bring him in – and went out into No Man’s Land himself, on many occasions, in an attempt to recover the body. In the end he was found and Congreve again went out to remove from the body what he could – which was not much. ‘The glasses were too smashed and the torch too gruesome.’ He determined that the body was too close to the Germans (‘thirty yards’) to be got away safely – it was never recovered and Major King is therefore commemorated on the Menin Gate.

Congreve also had the gift of attracting a wide circle of friends, both of his and older generations and from all levels of society. Generally he manages to be fairly unemotional when recording their deaths. For example, his servant in the early days of the war was Rifleman Philip Harris. When on 21 September 1914 Congreve moved to be ADC to Hubert Hamilton of the 6th Division, he noted how Hughes was ‘a sad loss’. Indeed, several weeks later, he went to see his father, then headquartered near Croix de Bacs and went off, confident that he could bring back Harris to be with him again: ‘I had one bad blow … When I got there I heard that he was dead, killed in an attack ten days ago.’ Rifleman Philip Harris has no known grave and is commemorated on the Ploegsteert Memorial. A further great blow was the death of his great friend Captain Maurice George Godolphin-Osborne of the Rifle Brigade. Seriously wounded in the head, Congreve went to visit him in the Casualty Clearing Station on many occasions. He died on 25 February 1915, Congreve noting: ‘The padre tells me that Maurice died quite peacefully at 12.30. I knew this before I saw him. I feel I don’t much care what happens now’; and of the funeral at Bailleul (in the Communal Cemetery, Grave F 9) two days later, he wrote that it ‘made little or no impression on me, which is either because I have lately learned to understand or else forgotten how to’.

Although a young officer, only twenty-three at the outbreak of war, he obviously had made an impression on the military hierarchy. In September 1914 he was specifically asked for by Major General Hubert Hamilton to act as his ADC. Only with him for a few weeks, Hamilton was killed on 14 October 1914: ‘As bad a thing happened this morning as ever could happen. Hammy is dead, and we lose a splendid soldier and I a very good friend’. Congreve had to arrange the body for the funeral: ‘… we put him in it just as he was, wrapped in a blanket. I had to take the spurs off his poor feet though, as they would not fit, and then we nailed on the lid.’ At the funeral, the corps commander, Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien, said: ‘Indeed, a true soldier’s grave. God rest his soul. Nobody else spoke. I wanted to cry. I stayed and saw the filling in of the grave, and now I must see to putting up a cross.’ Hamilton was one of the few exceptions to the policy of leaving the remains of the dead in France, this principally because this was not yet fixed. He is buried in St Martin’s Churchyard, Cheriton, in Kent.

One of the great features of this diary is Congreve’s detailed account of a number of actions. He came to France with the 6th Division, which had been held back in the UK from the original expeditionary force, which embarked from Southampton on 6 September and thus missing the Retreat and the Battle of the Marne and the worst of the Battle of the Aisne.

His powers of description, tinged with apposite humour and shrewd analysis, begins on the Aisne with an incident, in late September, involving the unlikely figure of the Norwegian Ambassador; then progresses to Neuve Chapelle and the fighting there in October 1914 and then up to Ypres, for the dying days of that battle, in November 1914. Besides the diary’s other attributes, in these earlier entries Congreve has the time to consider smaller details – his visit to Ypres, the attempts of the church warden to save the ‘cathedral’ from destruction, comments on an incendiary shell in the Cloth Hall. There follows a detailed account of the fighting in and near to Herenthage Chateau (and its near neighbour, on the far side of the Menin Road, Veldhoek Chateau) between 11 and 15 November 1914. Then there are descriptions of trench warfare in the Kemmel sector, the Christmas Truce and the move of his divisional sector to opposite Bois 40 (where today some restored trenches may be viewed).

In March 1915 he describes the failed attack on Spanbroekmolen, the events around the Mound at St Eloi – in considerable detail – later that same month, and then a description of the fighting at Hill 60, involving the neighbouring 5th Division. On 21 April he wrote, ‘I believe that, to date, we have lost about sixty officers and 1,700 other ranks in five days on a place about the centre part of Trafalgar Square’. Worse was to come, with the opening of the Second Battle of Ypres in late April and the use of gas. He comments on the sending home of Smith Dorrien: ‘…anyone who knows the salient agrees with Sir H., but of course GHQ don’t know it.’ A perceptive point. There follows full accounts (along with detailed sketches) of the fighting at Hooge in the summer of 1915.

Although he does give quite full descriptions of his own participation in the fighting, he is suitably modest. However, by September 1915 he had been mentioned in despatches twice since the outbreak of war and for his actions at Hooge was awarded the Croix de Chevalier of the Legion of Honour.

In December 1915, Congreve was appointed Brigade Major of 76 Brigade in the 3rd Division. Although his diary keeping had by now become very scanty, he gives an interesting account of a crater fighting incident on the Bluff at the very end of 1915. The young sapper officer involved, then a lieutenant, was Richard Brisco. He was killed on 9 April 1917, by then commanding 172 Tunnelling Company, at the opening of the Battle of Arras, at an entrance to the Goodman Subway on Vimy Ridge and is now buried at Écoivres (VI E 1).

With the ending of the diary, the last months of Congreve’s life are described effectively by his editor. Congreve performed brilliantly in the brisk mine and consequent crater fighting on the Bluff in February 1916 – so much so that he is specifically identified by the Official History; there followed his equally outstanding contribution to the fighting at St Eloi, where he practically saved the situation single handed and then went on to capture four officers and sixty-eight other ranks. He was to earn a DSO for this. His brigade commander, Uniacke, wrote to Sir Walter in early April, saying that he considered his son fit to command a division and that he would be proud to serve under him.

As the Somme loomed, 3rd Division began a gradual move southwards, becoming part of Congreve’s XIII Corps. Shortly before the opening of the great battle, William married Pamela Maude on 1 June; the best man was William Fraser of the Gordons. He was later to marry the widowed Pam; Pen and Sword has reprinted In Good Company, his edited Great War letters and diaries.

Not involved in the opening phase of the battle, 3rd Division did become embroiled in the fighting that followed on from the initially very successful night attack of 14 July. Congreve went forward on 20 July to help to resolve a hold up in an attack and was killed by a rifle shot at about 11 am.

Sir Walter described seeing him in the mortuary: ‘(I) was struck by his beauty and strength of face … I never felt so proud of him as I did when I said goodbye to him. I myself put in his hand a posy of poppies, cornflowers and daisies … and with a kiss I left him.’

At the age of twenty-five, a brevet major, with an extraordinary list of gallantry decorations, this remarkable soldier was laid to rest in Corbie Communal Cemetery. On 26 October 1916 William Congreve’s posthumous VC was gazetted; his widow went to Buckingham Palace to collect not only the VC but also the DSO and MC that he had been awarded earlier.

Terry Norman died relatively young, in September 1994. His Great War literary legacy – this edited volume and The Hell They Called High Wood – provide ample testimony to his ability as a narrator and analyst of a complex series of military actions and of his skill as a sympathetic and knowledgeable editor. This work has always struck me as being amongst the best of its type from the First World War – the diary of a young officer.

These edited diaries of William la Touche Congeve VC DSO MC reveal much about the man beyond his undoubted bravery and his wartime service. He was wise beyond his years, and he displayed many of the most admirable attributes that a person can have. That his story is told so eloquently is a tribute to the frankness of the diaries themselves and the very fine editorial skill of Terry Norman.

Nigel Cave, June 2014

List of Sketch Maps and Diagrams in the Text

All maps and diagrams, except for (3) and (6), are the work of the diarist. Since the diarist was in an excellent position to have the requisite knowledge of each operational area, it may be confidently assumed that his maps and diagrams are quite accurate. His cartographic talents were discovered during his time at Sandhurst where he won a special commendation on the subject. The original sketch maps, drawn in selected colours for instant comprehension, are minor works of art as well as of major historic importance. Reproducing them in more than one colour, however, would have been economically prohibitive. Mechanical tints have, therefore, been substituted wherever it was deemed appropriate.

Acknowledgements

Rarely does the opportunity occur to compile the war diaries of a holder of the VC for publication, especially when the diarist was also the recipient of the DSO, the MC and the Legion of Honour. For this reason, I am indebted to Major Christopher Congreve who kindly gave me permission to edit his eldest brother’s diary, as well as allowing me access to his father’s diaries and papers for background material. Equally, I should like to thank Billy Congreve’s daughter, Mary Gloria Congreve, for her invaluable contribution that included previously unpublished photographs of the Great War.

The generous assistance given to me by the staff of the Imperial War Museum should not go unsung, nor should Tom Fairgrieve’s help from Delville Wood on the Somme, Major Tom Craze’s support at the Royal Green Jackets’ Museum and Joan Neale’s research work at the Public Record Office, Kew. It is also my pleasure to thank Sir John Glubb for his approval to quote from a page of his book: Into Battle. Finally, I should like to express my gratitude to my literary agent, Charles Messenger of Donald Copeman Ltd, whose help and encouragement knew no bounds.

T.N.

Introduction

Read any autobiographies by Great War front line veterans and wherever staff officers are mentioned, it is usually in the form of ribald comment or downright abuse. Generally applied with a thick brush, such castigation painted all staff officers alike – whether they served at brigade, division, corps or at army level. A distorted and unfair picture perhaps, but front line soldiers daily faced the stark reality of living or dying; and the anonymous men who influenced their fragile existence always seemed so far from the immediate danger. Yet even front line soldiers would admit that there were exceptions amongst staff personnel. Major William La Touche Congreve was one of those exceptions.

Known simply as Billy to his family and friends, six feet four inches tall and only twenty-five years old when he was killed, he carved out an unselfish niche for bravery. He was awarded the Military Cross for gallantry at Hooge in 1915, followed by the Distinguished Service Order for his virtual single-handed capture of over seventy Prussians at St Eloi in April 1916. The French decorated him with the Legion of Honour and finally, but posthumously, for his continuous acts of endurance and gallantry on the Somme, Billy Congreve was awarded the Victoria Cross.

Young men of his calibre and generation constantly placed themselves in harm’s way in the line of duty. It was, therefore, inevitable that he would not survive the war unless he was extraordinarily lucky. Providence, however, had already looked kindly on him for nearly two years on the Western Front. In that time he had lost many close friends whom he had known in more peaceful days. His incredible luck vanished on 20th July 1916. On that fateful day, Billy Congreve was cut down by a sniper’s bullet.

He was patriotic, God-fearing and much loved by his men. Until that bullet struck him, his military career was very much in the ascendant. Recognised for eventual brigade command and being a professional soldier, he would doubtless have crowned his career as one of Britain’s top military leaders in World War II.

The eldest of three brothers, Billy Congreve was born in his grandfather’s home at Burton Hall, Cheshire, on 22nd March 1891. Everything pointed to his joining the Army, as he was raised in a family atmosphere that was steeped in military tradition. His father was a dedicated Rifle Brigade officer, and his mother was the daughter of Captain La Touche – an officer who had distinguished himself in the Indian Mutiny. Billy Congreve’s father, Walter Congreve, had won the Victoria Cross at Colenso in 1899 and was destined to become one of the most brilliant corps commanders of the Great War. Knighted for his services, he was eventually made a full general and ADC to King George V. Sir Walter Congreve ended his years of devotion to duty as Governor of Malta. He died there in February 1927, much mourned by the island’s people.

With few exceptions, each generation of Congreves left its mark on the pages of British history through the centuries; small wonder that Billy Congreve followed in their footsteps. His was a happy childhood that was mostly spent at Burton Hall and, later, at Chartley Castle which his father purchased in Staffordshire. In 1904 Billy Congreve went to Eton where he was an average scholar; after which he attended a crammer in London and won a place at Sandhurst. There, he excelled and nearly won the Sword of Honour – coming second in his entry. He was commissioned in the Rifle Brigade and, afterwards, was posted to the 3rd Battalion of the Rifle Brigade in Tipperary in 1911. In spite of the undertones of Irish politics, he spent three congenial years in Ireland as the threat of war increasingly clouded the politics of Europe.

It was in Ireland where he commenced his diary in the summer of 1914. He a young lieutenant, watching, impatiently waiting and recording. not fully realising that he was about to participate in one of the most destructive wars known to mankind.

His diary, lucidly written with explanatory maps in six leather-bound notebooks, survived his death. Except for a two-month period in 1915, when some entries were destroyed by fire, he kept a complete diary from 28th July 1914 to 17th January 1916. Why he did not continue was perhaps due to pressure of work after his promotion to brigade-major in December of 1915.

As is to be expected from such a resourceful officer, his diary is remarkable for its insight into the fighting that took place in those early months. It is also a mirror of the optimistic endeavours of his generation who went to war willingly before conscription, praying that it would not finish before having the chance to see action. As we know, as the survivors of Billy Congreve’s generation know, it continued for over four horrific years. In so doing, it changed the social and political pattern of Europe.

Because of