Post by Dave Homewood on Feb 5, 2012 1:48:21 GMT 12
This is an interesting piece of our WWI history.
From Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 15063, 11 November 1919, Page 9
NEW ZEALAND CYCLISTS
WORK OF THE BATTALION.
A company of cyclists was formed m New Zealand in April, 1916, to go overseas as divisional troops for the New Zealand division. The personnel was found from Mounted Rifle Reinforcements, and Major C. H. Evans, of Gisborne, was appointed to command.
The company went to Egypt by the S.S. Mokoia, which left Wellington on May 5th, 1916, with the 12th reinforcements, arriving at Suez on June 22nd, 1916. There the company was equipped (except cycles), and left direct for France early in July by the S.S. Tunisian.
On arrival at Marseilles it was entrained to Hazebrouek, Pas de Calais, arriving there on July 18th. The establishment of divisions having been altered meantime, the cyclists, instead of being allotted to the New Zealand division, were formed in battalions of three companies and attached to army corps as corps troops, and so the New Zealand company, numbering 268 all ranks, was divided into two companies, and with a company, of Australian cyclists formed the 2nd Anzac Cyclist Battalion, with a total of 17 officers and 330 other ranks, Major (now Lieut.-Col.) G. H. Evans being given command.
An interesting resume of the subsequent, movements and operations of the battalion was afforded a Herald representative to-day by Lieut.-Col. Evans, who stated that after brief training and organisation the unit was "blooded", by being put into the trenches near Fleurbaix, attached to the Sth. Australian division, and remained with them until the middle of October, when it was sent for attachment to Frank's force, a composite division, and again did a turn of duty in the trenches, in front of Armentieres for a month.
From there they went into winter quarters near Doulieu and were employed in traffic control, guards, and various corps duties. At the end of January, with the corps cavalry, the regiment went out for six weeks' training with the 2nd Cavalry Division between St. Omer and Boulogne. This being finished, the unit returned to Doulieu, and early in April were sent to near Ploegsteert, and attached to the New Zealand Working Battalion to help to complete the corps' buried system of communications.
This system was adopted by the corps in order to ensure safe and reliable telephonic and telegraphic communication between the front system of defence and the various batteries and headquarters further back, it having been found that overhead or ground lines were unreliable owing to the frequency of damage and disconnection through enemy shelling.
The wires, in waterproof cables carrying 10, 7, 4, and 2 pairs of wires, were buried at a depth of from 7 to 9 feet, and led into dugouts and test boxes at various points from which short lengths of ground line were run to the battalion, company, battery, or other headquarters as required.
The system on the 2nd Anzac Corps area comprised sonic 22 miles of trench, and as most of the area was within, the observation of the enemy on Messines ridge the work had to be done by night. The New Zealand Working Battalion was composed of three companies of 260 each, one company from each of the three brigades in the New Zealand division and the 2nd Anzac Cyclist Battalion, and the work was done during the heavy shelling; preceding and during the Messines operations in June.
This work was completed about the middle of May, and the unit returned to billets near Steenwerck for reorganisation; and training, rlie Messines operations were approaching, and it was decided by corps headquarters to use the Mounted Regiment as cavalry in the second stage of the, battle, but to enable them to get through the awful tangle of trenches, wire, creeks, etc., a. road had to be made for a mile beyond the front line, as well as a similar distance behind the front.
The Cyclist Battalion was entrusted with this work, which was carried out expeditiously in spite of the heavy shelling, and 'the cavalry went through and did good work. The. cyclists after their work was finished were used. as reserve troops in the final stages of the battle.
After Messines the buried cable lines were continued by the battalion right up to the new front. Towards the end of July, 1917, the corps went out for a rest; the first since coming to France in April, 1916, but owing to a neighboring corps (the 10th), who were preparing for a stunt on a large scale, being behind with their buried system, the cyclists were lent to them, and were engaged, in the vicinity of Sanctuary Wood until the 19th September, when they, moved out to Bouvelinghem, near St. Omer, where corps headquarters and the New Zealand division were resting.
The cyclists' rest lasted only two days, as the corps was returning to Ypres front to prepare, for the Paschaendaele stunt, and the cyclists returned also. The new sector required a lot of new buried lines, and with the assistance of 800 of the New Zealand Rifle Brigade (the cyclists being employed as engineer personnel, not as diggers) during the period of 27th September to October 12th: some 11 miles of trench was excavated, cables laid, and trench refilled, nearly all of it being night work, and it was continued on the heels of the daily advances, and the work was as dangerous as that of the troops actually engaged in pushing the enemy back, as the areas were continually 'helled, and numerous casualties resuited.
Paschaendaele being over, the unit went out for a rest, this time to Ambricourt, near Hesdin. and close to the famous old battlefield of Agincourt. Here training was carried on for two or three weeks, and about the middle of November the battalion again returned to Ypres sector, being accommodated in Vancouver camp near Vlamertinghe.
The work was again on the buried cable systems, this time a scheme embracing some 22 miles to connect up all the country recaptured from the enemy from Hooge - Polygonwood - Frezenberg, and with the assistance of the New Zealand infantry this work was carried out all through the winter, except when the ground was frozen too hard for excavation.
In addition to this work, the unit supplied numerous other duties required by the corps, such, aa guards, traffic control, road patrols, and several of the officers and non-com. attended schools of instruction at the 2nd Army headquarters.
ln January 1918, the Australian Company left to form the Australian Corps, and their place was filled in the battalion by a new company of New Zealanders drawn from the division. When the enemy made his attacks on the 5th Army, at the Somme in March, 1918, the battalion, and all the corps cavalry available were formed on an infantry basis into a composite battalion and put into the front line in Shrewsbuiy forest to take over a battalion' sector, to allow a British. division to go south to assist in stopping the enem's rush near Albert.
They held the line for about two weeks, and were relieved, on, 12th April. Next day they got their cycles (which had l been left at rear headquarters during the period in the line), and moved to Mont Kemmel, where for a week they held the trenches (amid heavy shelling) until relieved by the French.
The unit moved to Poperinge flat, and a few days later were sent post haste to near Vierstraat to stop a gap; and there for four days held off the enemy's repeated attacks, and in doing so lost several men.
Early in May the unit went out for a spell and reorganisation to a place near Wattau, but after a week two companies were sent again to bury cable lines on Mont des Cats. Early in June the corps moved to a place east of Amiens, where it was held as G.H.Q. reserve corps. The cyclists went also by route march, the journey of about 103 miles taking four days, easy going, but as only horsed transport was allowed them, it delayed progress considerably.
At a small village named Oissy, the unit were bivouacked in a small forest for five weeks, training and maintaining a state of constant readiness to move to any point where the enemy threatened attack, either, to the north or south of Amiens. However, nothing happened, and on 14th July the whole corps was sent by rail via Paris to Champagne district (Marne); where it participated in the operations of the 5th French Army under General A. Berthelot to the S.W. of Rheims.
The battaliion was given a place in the forefront of the attacks there, and distinguished itself by the capture of the village of Marfaux
On returning from the Marne to the British areas, it rested at Conteville, near St. Pol, for a few days, and from there went to near Albert, and participated in the operations of the 3rd Corps from 20th August-13th September.
In. these operations its function was that of advanced troops for reconnaisance and advanced guard work, and earned high praise from the G.O.C. After this the unit moved to Arras, where for a month it was engaged in reorganisation and training, supplying and numerous corps duties, i.e., guards on railway lines arid bridges; traffic, control, P;O.W. guards, etc.
On 13th October, the final advance having reached Bourlon Wood, the unit moved up and from then until the armistice, 11th November, 1918, was employed by companies with various divisions as advanced, troops during the whole of the victorious advances to Cambrai, Iwuy, Valenciennes, Sebourg, Roisin, and Quevy, and when, the order to cease hostilities was given the unit had two companies right out in advance in the neighborhood of Givry, midway between Mons and Mauberge.
After the armistice the battalion went into winter quarters at Baudour, near Mons (it did not go to Germany with the army of occupation, as the Ist Army remained as one of the reserve armies), where it remained in comfortable quarters until sent to the United Kingdom, for demobilisation on March, 18, 1919.
From Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 15063, 11 November 1919, Page 9
NEW ZEALAND CYCLISTS
WORK OF THE BATTALION.
A company of cyclists was formed m New Zealand in April, 1916, to go overseas as divisional troops for the New Zealand division. The personnel was found from Mounted Rifle Reinforcements, and Major C. H. Evans, of Gisborne, was appointed to command.
The company went to Egypt by the S.S. Mokoia, which left Wellington on May 5th, 1916, with the 12th reinforcements, arriving at Suez on June 22nd, 1916. There the company was equipped (except cycles), and left direct for France early in July by the S.S. Tunisian.
On arrival at Marseilles it was entrained to Hazebrouek, Pas de Calais, arriving there on July 18th. The establishment of divisions having been altered meantime, the cyclists, instead of being allotted to the New Zealand division, were formed in battalions of three companies and attached to army corps as corps troops, and so the New Zealand company, numbering 268 all ranks, was divided into two companies, and with a company, of Australian cyclists formed the 2nd Anzac Cyclist Battalion, with a total of 17 officers and 330 other ranks, Major (now Lieut.-Col.) G. H. Evans being given command.
An interesting resume of the subsequent, movements and operations of the battalion was afforded a Herald representative to-day by Lieut.-Col. Evans, who stated that after brief training and organisation the unit was "blooded", by being put into the trenches near Fleurbaix, attached to the Sth. Australian division, and remained with them until the middle of October, when it was sent for attachment to Frank's force, a composite division, and again did a turn of duty in the trenches, in front of Armentieres for a month.
From there they went into winter quarters near Doulieu and were employed in traffic control, guards, and various corps duties. At the end of January, with the corps cavalry, the regiment went out for six weeks' training with the 2nd Cavalry Division between St. Omer and Boulogne. This being finished, the unit returned to Doulieu, and early in April were sent to near Ploegsteert, and attached to the New Zealand Working Battalion to help to complete the corps' buried system of communications.
This system was adopted by the corps in order to ensure safe and reliable telephonic and telegraphic communication between the front system of defence and the various batteries and headquarters further back, it having been found that overhead or ground lines were unreliable owing to the frequency of damage and disconnection through enemy shelling.
The wires, in waterproof cables carrying 10, 7, 4, and 2 pairs of wires, were buried at a depth of from 7 to 9 feet, and led into dugouts and test boxes at various points from which short lengths of ground line were run to the battalion, company, battery, or other headquarters as required.
The system on the 2nd Anzac Corps area comprised sonic 22 miles of trench, and as most of the area was within, the observation of the enemy on Messines ridge the work had to be done by night. The New Zealand Working Battalion was composed of three companies of 260 each, one company from each of the three brigades in the New Zealand division and the 2nd Anzac Cyclist Battalion, and the work was done during the heavy shelling; preceding and during the Messines operations in June.
This work was completed about the middle of May, and the unit returned to billets near Steenwerck for reorganisation; and training, rlie Messines operations were approaching, and it was decided by corps headquarters to use the Mounted Regiment as cavalry in the second stage of the, battle, but to enable them to get through the awful tangle of trenches, wire, creeks, etc., a. road had to be made for a mile beyond the front line, as well as a similar distance behind the front.
The Cyclist Battalion was entrusted with this work, which was carried out expeditiously in spite of the heavy shelling, and 'the cavalry went through and did good work. The. cyclists after their work was finished were used. as reserve troops in the final stages of the battle.
After Messines the buried cable lines were continued by the battalion right up to the new front. Towards the end of July, 1917, the corps went out for a rest; the first since coming to France in April, 1916, but owing to a neighboring corps (the 10th), who were preparing for a stunt on a large scale, being behind with their buried system, the cyclists were lent to them, and were engaged, in the vicinity of Sanctuary Wood until the 19th September, when they, moved out to Bouvelinghem, near St. Omer, where corps headquarters and the New Zealand division were resting.
The cyclists' rest lasted only two days, as the corps was returning to Ypres front to prepare, for the Paschaendaele stunt, and the cyclists returned also. The new sector required a lot of new buried lines, and with the assistance of 800 of the New Zealand Rifle Brigade (the cyclists being employed as engineer personnel, not as diggers) during the period of 27th September to October 12th: some 11 miles of trench was excavated, cables laid, and trench refilled, nearly all of it being night work, and it was continued on the heels of the daily advances, and the work was as dangerous as that of the troops actually engaged in pushing the enemy back, as the areas were continually 'helled, and numerous casualties resuited.
Paschaendaele being over, the unit went out for a rest, this time to Ambricourt, near Hesdin. and close to the famous old battlefield of Agincourt. Here training was carried on for two or three weeks, and about the middle of November the battalion again returned to Ypres sector, being accommodated in Vancouver camp near Vlamertinghe.
The work was again on the buried cable systems, this time a scheme embracing some 22 miles to connect up all the country recaptured from the enemy from Hooge - Polygonwood - Frezenberg, and with the assistance of the New Zealand infantry this work was carried out all through the winter, except when the ground was frozen too hard for excavation.
In addition to this work, the unit supplied numerous other duties required by the corps, such, aa guards, traffic control, road patrols, and several of the officers and non-com. attended schools of instruction at the 2nd Army headquarters.
ln January 1918, the Australian Company left to form the Australian Corps, and their place was filled in the battalion by a new company of New Zealanders drawn from the division. When the enemy made his attacks on the 5th Army, at the Somme in March, 1918, the battalion, and all the corps cavalry available were formed on an infantry basis into a composite battalion and put into the front line in Shrewsbuiy forest to take over a battalion' sector, to allow a British. division to go south to assist in stopping the enem's rush near Albert.
They held the line for about two weeks, and were relieved, on, 12th April. Next day they got their cycles (which had l been left at rear headquarters during the period in the line), and moved to Mont Kemmel, where for a week they held the trenches (amid heavy shelling) until relieved by the French.
The unit moved to Poperinge flat, and a few days later were sent post haste to near Vierstraat to stop a gap; and there for four days held off the enemy's repeated attacks, and in doing so lost several men.
Early in May the unit went out for a spell and reorganisation to a place near Wattau, but after a week two companies were sent again to bury cable lines on Mont des Cats. Early in June the corps moved to a place east of Amiens, where it was held as G.H.Q. reserve corps. The cyclists went also by route march, the journey of about 103 miles taking four days, easy going, but as only horsed transport was allowed them, it delayed progress considerably.
At a small village named Oissy, the unit were bivouacked in a small forest for five weeks, training and maintaining a state of constant readiness to move to any point where the enemy threatened attack, either, to the north or south of Amiens. However, nothing happened, and on 14th July the whole corps was sent by rail via Paris to Champagne district (Marne); where it participated in the operations of the 5th French Army under General A. Berthelot to the S.W. of Rheims.
The battaliion was given a place in the forefront of the attacks there, and distinguished itself by the capture of the village of Marfaux
On returning from the Marne to the British areas, it rested at Conteville, near St. Pol, for a few days, and from there went to near Albert, and participated in the operations of the 3rd Corps from 20th August-13th September.
In. these operations its function was that of advanced troops for reconnaisance and advanced guard work, and earned high praise from the G.O.C. After this the unit moved to Arras, where for a month it was engaged in reorganisation and training, supplying and numerous corps duties, i.e., guards on railway lines arid bridges; traffic, control, P;O.W. guards, etc.
On 13th October, the final advance having reached Bourlon Wood, the unit moved up and from then until the armistice, 11th November, 1918, was employed by companies with various divisions as advanced, troops during the whole of the victorious advances to Cambrai, Iwuy, Valenciennes, Sebourg, Roisin, and Quevy, and when, the order to cease hostilities was given the unit had two companies right out in advance in the neighborhood of Givry, midway between Mons and Mauberge.
After the armistice the battalion went into winter quarters at Baudour, near Mons (it did not go to Germany with the army of occupation, as the Ist Army remained as one of the reserve armies), where it remained in comfortable quarters until sent to the United Kingdom, for demobilisation on March, 18, 1919.
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