Lives of the First World War

At the time the 20th Bn King's Royal Rifle Corps was billeted in Chocques, the following account tells what happened from the perspective of one of the battalion officers. The CLC men are not mentioned as the book focused on the officer's own battalion and comrades. https://archive.org/stream/20thbattbelpione00turbuoft/20thbattbelpione00turbuoft_djvu.txt A Short History of the 20th Battalion King's Royal Rifle Corps (B.E.L. Pioneers) 1915-1919 by CAPT. A. S. TURBERVILLE, M.C. "One of the worst features of the Béthune front was that all the back areas soon became so exceedingly unhealthy. Indeed, we were told by General Morland ... informal visit at Chocques, that the Corps were sustaining many more casualties in the back areas than in the trenches.... From the first Chocques was shelled, not very heavily, indeed, but fairly frequently; and there were, all told, a good many casualties in billets there even before the tragic denouement. ... At no time could one sleep or rest in Chocques with an entirely unapprehensive mind. But it did not become impossible to live in it until May 29th. The previous afternoon the Germans had been ranging on the village with air bursts of H.E. About twenty-four hours later a regular hurricane bombardment of the village began, and casualties came in from all quarters.... Another shell crashed through the roof of the curé's house among the officers' servants of B. Company, and the upper rooms poured blood. More and more wounded men were conveyed from their billets to the château, where our splendid battalion M.O., Dr. Masefield, bound them up as fast as they came. Fine work was done by Sergeant-Major Spain of C. Company in succouring wounded, and for this, together with many other fine services, he was afterwards awarded the D.C.M. On the whole the battalion was lucky to escape as well as it did. But it had had clear notice to quit. Nearly everybody spent that night out in the open."

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