Pushed and the Return Push   By: George Herbert Fosdike Nichols

Transcriber's Note: Inconsistent hyphenation in the original document has been preserved. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. For a complete list, please see the end of this document.

Pushed

AND

The Return Push

Pushed

AND

The Return Push

BY

QUEX

William Blackwood and Sons Edinburgh and London 1919

To the Memory of LIEUT. COL. AUSTIN THORP, C.M.G., D.S.O., R.A., WHO COMMANDED THE 82ND BRIGADE, R.F.A., IN FRANCE, FROM DECEMBER 1915 TO OCTOBER 1918.

KILLED IN ACTION AT BEAUSIES ON OCTOBER 30, 1918.

CONTENTS.

PUSHED. PAGE I. BEFORE THE ATTACK 3

II. "THE BOCHE IS THROUGH!" 13

III. THE END OF A BATTERY 24

IV. THE NIGHT OF MARCH 21 35

V. A GUNNER'S V.C. 42

VI. BEHIND VILLEQUIER AUMONT 49

VII. STILL IN RETREAT 60

VIII. A LAST FIFTY ROUNDS 65

IX. FASTER AND FASTER 71

X. THE SCRAMBLE AT VARESNES 83

XI. THE G IN GAP 93

XII. OUT OF THE WAY 101

THE RETURN PUSH.

I. THE DEFENCE OF AMIENS 111

II. THE RED ROOFED HOUSE 119

III. AN AUSTRALIAN "HAND OVER" 129

IV. HAPPY DAYS! 137

V. BEFORE THE GREAT ATTACK 146

VI. THE BATTLE OF AUGUST 8 153

VII. SHORT LEAVE TO PARIS 163

VIII. TRONES WOOD AGAIN 178

IX. DOWN THE ROAD TO COMBLES 188

X. A MASTERLY TURNING MOVEMENT 203

XI. ON THE HEELS OF THE BOCHE 211

XII. THE MAJOR'S LOST PIPE 221

XIII. NURLU AND LIERAMONT 227

XIV. THE FIGHT FOR RONSSOY 243

XV. "ERNEST" IS LOST 258

XVI. THE DECISIVE DAYS 274

XVII. WITH THE AMERICANS 283

XVIII. A LAST DAY AT THE O.P. 303

XIX. "THE COLONEL " 326

PUSHED

I. BEFORE THE ATTACK.

By means of a lorry lift from railhead, and a horse borrowed from the Divisional Ammunition Column, I found Brigade Headquarters in a village that the Germans had occupied before their retreat in the spring of 1917.