1918 Spring Offensive - British defensive position made of tins of bully beef

[WilliamRev]

A few years ago I remember reading of an occurrence during the German Spring Offensive of 1918 (Operation Michael?) when a British supply dump was defended for a while by Allied troops who had made makeshift defenses using large numbers of bully beef tins, (or perhaps boxes of bully beef tins). Apparently news of this had caused upset amongst the attacking Germans who had been told that the Allied troops were as short of food as they themselves were.

I have searched hard through numerous memoirs and other books, and cannot trace where I read this (I have searched through past forum posts to no avail ). Does this ring any bells with anyone? I would be extremely grateful if someone could suggest to me where I might have read this.

William

Edited 25 March by WilliamRev

[sueburden]

I recall this too.   I thought it might be in,  The War the Infantry Knew,  but a check in the index doesn't come up with anything.

Sue

[WilliamRev]

Thanks for that suggestion Sue. The War the Infantry Knew is just the sort of book it might be in, with its host of anecdotes and fascinating stuff, but I have skimmed through all the Spring Offensive stuff, (March -May 1918) and haven't found it yet. I'll keep going because it is a joy to re-encounter this book, but if anyone else has any good ideas I'd welcome them.

William

[sueburden]

I hope someone does as I am rather keen to know now.

Sue

[Old Forge]

Hi @WilliamRev, there are many references to German soldiers being angered to find how well provisioned the BEF was. Looting depots was a factor in slowing their advance. I don't recall a specific anecdote of a bully beef breastwork, but it's perfectly plausible. Henry Williamson covered the Fifth Army's withdrawal in his Chronicle of Ancient Sunlight novels - and he'd be tetchy with anyone wanting to change the word 'withdrawal' to 'retreat'. It's the sort of eyewitness anecdote he'd have appreciated, but I don't recall the story and it might be a long 'wild goose chase' if you decide to check.

All the best,

Richard

[WilliamRev]

In search of this I have renewed my acquaintance with a number of memoirs that I had forgotten about (and I have around seventy of these so this is taking a while), which is worthwhile in itself, but still no joy. So if anyone else can think of where I might have read it I'd still love to know.

William

[geraint]

I can recall a family member of a veteran telling me about his great uncle. He was in the 14th or 16th RWF and it related to the later stages of the first 1916 Somme battles. He told me that a communication trench had been reveted using bully beef cans which had rusted and rotted and smelt worse than the bodies. I think that I did mention it here, but I can't for the life of me find it. It would have been 2008-9.

[WilliamRev]

Geraint,

Thanks for this comment - the constructive use of full bully beef tins is always interesting, not least because it demonstrates how plentiful the supply of tinned beef was in the BEF. My maternal grandfather (a private in the 19th Durham Light infantry) mentioned to me how terrible the trenches smelled - in late March 1918 he fought in some of the old 1916 trenches near Mametz, but I suspect that he was thinking of the hot summer/autumn of 1918 at Zillebeke.

[Every Boxing Day lunch we had an assortment of cold meats, and my grandfather always refused to eat the corned beef because it was 'bully beef'. This was the cue for him to start reminiscing about the First World War, which I listened to with great interest (although I don't think that the rest of the family were interested).]

William

Edited 9 April by WilliamRev

[sueburden]

What would'nt we give to listen to those stories now.

Sue

[Terry_Reeves]

I remember seeing a German document that mentioned British troops bombarding them with a “Rindfleischprojektor”.  Further research showed it was designed and manufactured by a Royal Engineer workshop company.  There was a major problem however - they could not find a tube of rectangular proportion to take the tins.

The problem was solved by troops being issued with mallets to beat said tins into a roughly cylindrical state. Although not exactly aerodynamic - they tumbled and wobbled their way to the target - they were a cause of some suspicion amongst German troops. The device was kept secret for seventy-five years and it’s precise design is still under wraps at TNA.
 
I still have to find the key as to why.

TR

 

 

Edited 9 April by Terry_Reeves

[CorporalPunishment]

2 hours ago, Terry_Reeves said:

I remember seeing a German document that mentioned British troops bombarding them with a “Rindfleischprojektor”.  Further research showed it was designed and manufactured by a Royal Engineer workshop company.  There was a major problem however - they could not find a tube of rectangular proportion to take the tins.

The problem was solved by troops being issued with mallets to beat said tins into a roughly cylindrical state. Although not exactly aerodynamic - they tumbled and wobbled their way to the target - they were a cause of some suspicion amongst German troops. The device was kept secret for seventy-five years and it’s precise design is still under wraps at TNA.
 
I still have to find the key as to why.

TR

 

 

Yeah right!!.