andrew pugh Posted 7 December , 2009 Share Posted 7 December , 2009 Good Evening All. Does anyone have a map showing the light railway from Havrincourt wood to Barastre about the time of the German offensive. I think the sheet number is 57c and d. I would like to trace the route that it took. Hope someone can help. best Regards Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimSmithson Posted 7 December , 2009 Share Posted 7 December , 2009 Andy I've looked at a November 1917 map of the area west of the wood (towards Barastre) and I can't see any signs of a railway then. Was it built after that date? Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew pugh Posted 8 December , 2009 Author Share Posted 8 December , 2009 Hi Jim. I dont really know, I have a copy of an account told by a soldier of the 24th Bn R/Fusiliers who gives a very accurate acount of his and his units movements from the 21st March up until he was wounded on the 25th or 26th and shipped back to blighty where he gave this account to a nurse at the hospital he was in, she later gave it to the I.W.M. He mentions the train being shelled, and near misses, and also getting cinders and smuts blown in their faces when the driver got the wind up at being shelled,probebly gave it too much throttle.There is also mention about stopping the train outside Haplincourt near Haplincourt Wood. Strange that there is no mention of this train journey in the battalion war diary.Im very intrested in period of the war.Hope someone can help. when you look at Google maps of this area you can still see most of the old roads and trackways in the fields now long gone. Regards Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimSmithson Posted 8 December , 2009 Share Posted 8 December , 2009 Now you have confused me Andy, being a bear of little brain. Havrincourt Wood or Haplincourt Wood? Not that I can spot a light railway near Haplincourt Wood either but the latest map I have looked at so far is way before March 1918. I will now search further!! Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew pugh Posted 9 December , 2009 Author Share Posted 9 December , 2009 Good Evening Jim. I will quote you from this chaps acount.. 21st March 1918 As dawn broke we got on the light railway train to proceeded to Barastre. When we had all boarded the train Fritzie's barrage opened and shells beganto fall in the wood (Havrincourt Wood) and also on the road we had just been marching on,imeadiatly our guns opened up in reply and the earth shook with the roar of the guns,which up to then we did not guess to be concentrated in such great force. The driver and stoker on our engine hed the wind up consequently they started the train very quickly and nearly blinded us with smoke and hot cinders They (Germans) shelled the train all the way through the wood (Havrincourt Wood) all the way to Barastre.Then I think his acount gets a bit muddled, he states that we were extremely lucky to get off that train alive.We got off the train at a place called Ytres, about a mile from the village and marched to the huts we had just taken over. Does this help,It could be a light railway from Havrincourt Wood that travelled west to Barastre and beyond. Best Regards Andy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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