Activities of The Diggers - Restoration of the YORKSHIRE TRENCH & DUG-OUT 1. Yorkshire Trench & Dug-Out : the historical setting DThe trenches on the Boezinge Canal site had suffered badly in the fighting that took place there on 6 July 1915. Afterwards they were repaired as best as was possible. But then winter came, with all its effects on the soil conditions : the northern part of the Ypres Salient was turned into a bog. And this was certainly true for the Canal Site, which was considered the worst in the area. "Frontline in a dreadful state. Line only held by a series of outposts disconnected from each other. Trenches mostly falling to pieces and drainage very difficult." (War Diary 62nd Field Company, 29 December 1915). Repairs were carried out in the course of January 1916. This was no easy task since the trenches were obstructed by all sorts of war debris. (And human wreckage …) And the first German line was close : not more than a few dozen metres, close enough for German bombers. PHOTO 1 - The Yorkshire Trench, which had been excavated near the dug-out entrances for the first time in the summer of 1998, was partly excavated again some distance more to the north (approx. 100 metres, a place which has been built upon since). And it is clear that when the photo was taken (22 April 2000) that the trench floor did not exactly offered a comfortable walk. On the left there is a firestep (to observe the enemy lines, or for snipers). On the right : the upstanding beams of a number of A-frames, some of which are now in the Ypres In Flanders Fields Museum. On 19 February 1916 the trench near post F34 was captured by the Germans and posts F33 to F30 east of it had to be evacuated. And so a new British first line had to be established on the next day, about 100 yards behind the evacuated line. However, it was found so much shell pitted as to be impracticable. So it was decided that a line about 250 yards from the evacuated posts was to be wired. As a result of that the no man's land was widened : now it was between 200 and 500 metres wide. And after that strategic withdrawal of the first line, a position was reached that corresponds with what later was to be named 'Yorkshire Trench'. IILLUSTRATION 2 - Part of a detailed map of 29 February 1916 (83rd Field Company, Royal Engineers), corresponding to the Boezinge Canal Site prospected by the Diggers since 1998. - On the left : the Canal Ypres - Yser. - The street on the right is Kleine Poezelstraat. - This street is crossed by Moortelweg. - At the top : the first German line (red). - Posts F34 to F30 (yellow) were part of the first British line in the winter of 1915-16. - F34 was where now the water reservoir is at the northern edge of the industrial estate. - The line F34 - F30 coincides more or less with that part of Moortelweg which has disappeared since the industrial estate was started in 1999. - On 19 Febuary post F34 was captured by the Germans ; the British evacuated the other posts east of it, and withdrew their first line 100 yards, and then 250 yards. On the map this is the line with the barbed wire (blue). - In this way the new line in the upper half coincided with the "Old British Line" of before 6 July 1915. And in the lower half that line of retreat would later become Yorkshire Trench. On the map this predecessor is marked in yellow, and with an arrow. - The bottom left corner of the sketch is where the beginning is of (the short part of) the industrial estate street 'Bargiestraat', at right angles with the canal. The bottom right corner is where now Colne Valley Cemetery (Kleine Poezelstraat) is. The predecessor of Yorkshire Trench (dating from 1915 or 1916, a shallow and rather primitive trench, maybe even a former French trench) had already been located on several places before. During restoration works, not more than a few metres east of Yorkshire Trench, more of this former trench was laid bare, as is shown on this photo (12 October 2002). At the Yorkshire Trench & Dug-Out Site this older Yorkshire Trench has now been marked with wooden planking. The real Yorkshire Trench on the Boezingse Canal Site, as a first line trench, can be found on a British Trench map for the first time on 9 September 1916, marked by a simple line. (The reason also being that on a British trench map it is the German lines that are indicated more accurately.) The name "Yorkshire Trench" can be read on trench maps from 16 January 1917 on. (Though in war diaries it is referred to from the autumn of 1916 on.) Yorkshire Trench was a first line trench between summer or autumn 1916 till the summer of 1917, for about one year. Not really a fighting trench, but the explanation for that was that this period was comparatively quiet, and that the no man's land had grown to a width of approx. 200 - 500 metres. ILLUSTRATION 4 - The name "Yorkshire Trench" is found on maps from the beginning of 1917 on, with the typical zigzag pattern. This is a fragment of a map of 30 April 1917. On the left the Canal Ypres - Yser ; on the right Kleine Poezelstraat, crossed by Moortelweg. Yorkshire Trench (about 200 metres long) northward changes its name into Essex Trench, and southward into White Trench. But of course the system continued for hundreds of metres towards the southeast. At the top, right (in red) : the first German line, with Cable Trench, Cactus Trench, Caddie Trench, Caesar's Nose. In June 1917 the long neglected area between Yorkshire Trench and Moortelweg was used again. A new frontline took shape : a trench at the northern point of Essex Farm ran east beyond the junction with Kleine Poezelstraat : Harvey Trench. Four other trenches were linked to it and to the system Yorkshire Trench + Essex Trench + White Trench. ILLUSTRATION 5 - A fragment of a sketch from the War Diaries of the 14th Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers (end of July 1917). Baird Trench, Harwich Trench, Balaclava Trench and Alma Trench now fill the 1916 no man's land in front of Yorkshire + Essex + White Trench. It is from this system that on 31 July 1917 the Battle of Pilckem Ridge would be launched. The arrow shows where part of Yorkshire Trench has been restored. Meanwhile, i.e. since eind 1916 or beginning 1917 Yorkshire Trench Dug-Out construction had commenced. The British supreme command had indeed decided to carry out all military operations in the offensive of the summer of 1917 from 'deep dugouts'. The condition of the ground made digging these deep dugouts an extremely difficult and dangerous undertaking. Work at night had to be carried out silently and secretly, facing an observant enemy who was only a few hundred metres away. The earth that had been dug had to be disposed of or covered over. For if the enemy found out, this would ensure that the dugouts would be shelled by artillery fire within a short space of time. About 180 dugout sites have been located in the Ypres Salient and in the 1990s some of them were entered, at least in part. But the Yorkshire Trench Dugout seemed to be the most intact. ILLUSTRATION 6 - Location of 7 of the British dugouts east of the Canal, all south and southeast of Yorkshire Trench, and all finished by the 173rd or 179th Tunnelling Company. - Yorkshire Trench, Butt 18, Nile Trench and Heading Lane Dug-Out each were double battalion headquarters ; - Bridge 6 was a brigade headquarters, and - Lancashire Farm Dugout contained 2 battalion and 2 brigade headquarters. Maps of the Yorkshire Trench Dugout have not been preserved, but the final structure deviated somewhat from the standard concept. It is quite possible that this was because of the major problems encountered in digging. It was reported repeatedly that the high water table presented almost insurmountable difficulties. So the original concept may have been larger. ILLUSTRATION 7 - The Yorkshire Trench Dugout as it is below the present Site, and marked at the surface by means of dolomite paths. The dugout itself is not accessible, due to the high water level which reaches the top steps almost throughout the whole year. A - Yorkshire Trench A1 - Firepit A2 - Two loopholes B - Southern dugout entrance B1 - Stairway (about 13 metres long, almost 10 metres deep, inclination 45°) B2 - Pumproom B3 - Carpenter's room B4 - Store room for tools B5 - Armourer's room (below the present Bargiestraat) C - Northern entrance (about 20 m long, with platform C1) D - Corridor with sleeping quarters D1-4 ; command room D5 PHOTO 8 The stairway of the northern entrance ; photo taken from a depth of about 5 metres, standing on the lower steps of the part that has an inclination of 30°. What follows is a double platform of approx. 4 metres long, the first half of which is slightly inclined (quite treacherous) and where the height is strikingly lower (only 4 feet). Past that platform the lower (and shorter) part of the stairway begins : steeper (45°), about 3.5 metres long and 2.5 metres deep. FPHOTO 9 Digger Patrick Van Wanzeele in the carpenter's room (B3 on Illustration 7) during the first exploration of the Yorkshire Trench Dugout shortly after its discovery (February 1992). The attack was launched at zero hour 3.50 a.m. North of the 38th (Welsh) Division (i.e. north of the railroad Ypres - Boezinge - Torhout, which at present is a bicycle path between Boezinge and Langemark) was the Guards Division. To the south were the 51st and 39th Divisions. Initially all went very well, for a few days before the Germans had already evacuated their first line. But the number of casualties rose just after the second wave took over from the first companies. The heaviest losses came at the end of the morning when the Germans launched their first counter attack, past Pilckem, on the road to Steenbeek (Langemark). However, the battle was largely a success in the north (Pilckem). In the centre and in the east (Geluveld) hardly any progress was made. Later the frontlines would move eastward slowly and with difficulty. To end with the Allied 'victory' in the hell of Passchendale (beginning of November 1917). © 2001 The Diggers - Contact Webmaster