John Ewing

“ And the dead of the Ninth in the long chain of battles from Loos to the Lys had by their valour and sacrifice paved the way for the triumphal onset that carried the Division from Ypres to the Scheldt. The countless graves that strew the battle-line of France and Flanders contain the flower of the British race, and furnish silent but eloquent evidence of the robust qualities and manly faith without which the British Empire and all that it stands for must have passed away. ”

“ On their left the Camerons had a ghastly experience. When, after a ten minutes’ wait to allow the gas to pass on, the men began to advance, they were shot down by a galling fire from the left, the first two lines of the battalion being almost annihilated. To cross that fatal field was a task that even the stoutest [41] of men might have shirked without shame. But the Camerons were inspired by a compelling sense of duty, and undeterred by the fear or spectacle of death, they made of danger the spring-board of a leaping hardihood. ”

“ A plentiful supply of tools had been carried up by the South Africans, and it was impressed upon the men that notwithstanding their weariness there could be no rest until trenches had been dug. But they had grasped the situation; it was only too obvious that their lives depended upon the speed with which they could dig themselves in. But the spendthrift undergrowth and tangled roots that crawled profusely in the soil of Delville Wood were hard to cut, and while the men toiled they were harried unceasingly by shell and machine-gun fire. ”

“ For myself I am convinced that a Scottish cairn built of rough-hewn stones, such as these, is a more fitting monument to the rugged, simple, and enduring war service of soldiers than sculptured group or elaborate architecture. And though the Division embraced men of England, the Channel Islands, South Africa, and Newfoundland, and was therefore more truly Imperial in its composition than any other Division in the British Army, it must be remembered that it was born in Scotland, it was named after Scotland, it was fed throughout the four years of its active life in the main from Scotland ”

“ This was a happy occurrence, since the wire in front of the Point du Jour trenches had scarcely been damaged and was penetrated laboriously even by unmolested men. The spectacle of lines of men moving steadily forward with their rifles at the slope seemed more like a Salisbury Plain ceremonial manœuvre than an attack in grim earnest. As the troops pressed on, their eyes were gratified by the sight of scores of Germans fleeing in a wild panic. ”

“ With the second day, trials and troubles for the Ninth accumulated and grew in magnitude as the enemy’s attack was pressed, and during the following days only consummate leadership and indomitable gallantry enabled the Division to extricate itself from the dangers that threatened it on all sides.
When dawn came, gelid shadows of mist drifted over the landscape, bringing poor comfort to men who, half-numbed with cold, had passed a long, sleepless night. ”

“ In spite of all these difficulties the casualties were evacuated with wonderful rapidity, while the heroism and endurance of doctors and stretcher-bearers were almost beyond belief. Instances of the former squatting in shell-holes and dressing their patients under a murderous fire were innumerable. But, indeed, in the work of all men wearing the Red Cross the spirit of self-sacrifice shone at its brightest. The succouring of the wounded is an instinct with the British soldier, and there is no case known in the whole Army of a stretcher-bearer ever shirking his duty. ”

“ The agonies endured by the Highlanders and South Africans were indescribable. Parties of worn-out men coming down from the front line threw themselves into any shell-hole, too tired to care what happened to them, and it was a kind cruelty that drove them to their feet and forced them on to some safer place. Many Highlanders discarded their kilts as being too heavy, but indeed so glutinous was the abundant mud that it was difficult to tell whether a man wore a kilt or not. ”

“ The qualities that created the Empire are equally necessary to maintain it, and the security of a heritage depends essentially on the sense of duty of those who hold it. War still remains the supreme test of a nation’s efficiency, and it is the glory of democracy that it did not shirk that test when challenged. In keeping with the national spirit the Ninth Division had ever before it the injunction received from H.M. King George V. on the 10th May 1915, and its greatest honour is that from beginning to end it faithfully and loyally carried it out. ”

“ The whole of Flanders, engulfed in mud, had the aspect of an enormous swamp; and the leaden skies, in a sombre rain-grey monotint, were in harmony with the drab-coloured earth. Even the roads were ankle-deep in glutinous mud, and the constant traffic was often checked by stoppages caused by particularly bad parts. Thus the passage of the infantry to and from the trenches was like a feverish nightmare; for the men had to march about ten miles through clinging mire along roads choked with transport, and often shelled. The rest huts at Dickebusch and Canada Huts were dismal and repellent shelters ”

“ During the worst spells, when nothing could be heard above the hideous din of the screaming and crashing shells, the men cowered into the sides of their trenches; but though wearied and exhausted they were full of fight, and when a short lull came they peered eagerly over the parapet hoping for a glimpse of the enemy on whom they might wreak vengeance for the horror of the bombardment. If any man stood out from his fellows that day, it was Lieut.-Colonel Gordon of the Black Watch. ”

“ There were no roads or communication trenches to guide troops on their way to the front line, and along the ridges of craters zigzag routes constructed with duckboards became a mark for hostile gun-fire, but they could not be deserted except at the risk of death by drowning or suffocation, which was the melancholy fate of more than one poor man and animal. ”

“ The Division had the great fortune to be commanded by a succession of leaders outstanding for character as well as knowledge, who with their fingers ever on its pulse, knew well how to direct and control it to the best advantage. But the true value of the Ninth depended not upon the pre-eminence of a few individuals, but upon the co-operative ability shown by all ranks and departments to work together. Each officer and each man contributed to a common stock, and while he might pass away his spirit was absorbed by the Division. The group is always stronger than the individual. ”

“ It is impossible to praise too highly the forethought shown with regard to the Railway Triangle. Brig.-General Tudor learned just before our advance from the Black Line was resumed, that the Fifteenth Division was held up by the Triangle and had not won its first objective. Realising the disastrous result of this for the Ninth, since the enemy south of the Scarpe would see our infantry north of the river and would enfilade them with numerous machine-guns, he turned on a battery, which he had standing by for such an eventuality, to blind that enemy to our movement. ”

“ He thoroughly understood that a division was a unit and not a mere congeries of battalions, batteries, and field companies, and he realised that the battle from which the Ninth had recently emerged offered a grand opportunity for fostering and stimulating esprit de corps. “The Ninth (Scottish) Division” soon became a name in which every soldier in it took an intense and jealous pride; each man believed that he belonged to the best unit in the best division in the best army in the world. Such a spirit is not to be despised ”

“ A man too seriously wounded to walk was in a piteous plight; he had to wait for several hours until men were available to carry him to a dressing station. The usual number of men for a stretcher is two, but eight were scarcely sufficient at the Butte de Warlencourt. It was perhaps inevitable that in a place over which the tide of battle ebbed and flowed for days and nights, a number of wounded should have been missed. For several days after the Ninth took over the line not a few wounded men of the London Division, the ghastly aftermath of an unsuccessful attack, were brought in by patrols. ”

“ It was a wonderful exhibition of the resources of the British Empire, and a visible proof of the diligence with which workers at home had applied themselves to the manufacture of munitions of war. It was not a feverish bustle that one witnessed, but a steady and systematic application of labour; every movement was directed by an organisation that was not surpassed by any other nation in the war. The whole of the work performed by Britain in its administrative arrangements has probably never been appreciated at its full value. ”

“ Its banks had been blown in by months of relentless gun-fire and a zigzag trail of shell-holes, rather deeper and more full of water than the others, alone gave evidence of its former existence. A bleaker and more repellant battlefield it is impossible to imagine, and even the sun served only to throw into stronger relief the dreadful ghoulishness of the landscape. ”

“ In the small hours of the 11th the Germans resumed their efforts, and strong forces attempted to break through our defences on the Dammstrasse and the right flank of the Lowland Brigade from the Stables to the southern end of the support position, but the hostile concentration had been observed and our rifle, machine-gun, and artillery-fire, cutting deep lanes in the dense field-grey hordes, beat back the foe in tumultuous and terror-stricken disorder. ”

“ Even in the summer of 1916 the roadways in the Somme area could scarcely cope with the enormous traffic that passed over them. For instance, the Maricourt-Montauban road, which was constantly used, was only fit for horse transport, though twenty tons of road metal were put on it daily by the Division. In the forward areas, the imperturbable manner in which Sappers and Pioneers worked under the heaviest fire aroused the sincere admiration of the infantry; they seemed to be men without nerves. Their losses were extremely heavy, a serious matter, as skilled men were not too numerous. ”

“ But even more remarkable than the dour resolution, with which the battle was carried on, was the extraordinary [139] capacity for endurance displayed by the men in holding on to their gains. In France, the most difficult part of an attack was not the winning of an objective but the keeping of it after it was gained. The Germans knew all about the art of war. Their counter-stroke on the 18th July was admirably planned and skilfully carried out, and it was made when the Division was at its weakest. Never did the Ninth rise to greater heights. ”

“ Tearing along at full gallop, C/50 Battery under Major Hoggart plunged almost into the infantry firing-line, quickly unlimbered and at 800 yards’ range turned its guns against the foe in Steenbeek with a rapidity and precision that amazed and thrilled the infantry. The disgruntled Germans bringing up a field-gun had the great fortune to wipe out one team. ”

“ Longueval and Delville Wood—that prolonged three weeks of the fiercest fighting, taking [16] terrible toll daily—bodies mutilated and dying, but spirit ever alive and showing its noble endurance hour after hour and day after day—in the repeated attacks of the Lowlanders, in that glorious culminating counter-attack of the Highlanders, and in the hanging on of the unconquerable remnant of the splendid South African Brigade. In those three weeks we lost 7500 officers and men in the Division, and fully 60 per cent. of our Infantry. ”

“ The whole Division was anxious for a fight. It had now been more than three months in France, and had become thoroughly acquainted with the ordinary routine of trench warfare. Life had turned out to be much less trying than most of the men had imagined, for casualties had been comparatively few, and there had been no thrills. It was always unpleasant, of course, when the trenches were pounded, but these periods were only occasional and seldom of long duration. ”

“ It was realised that the Germans were expecting an attack. To keep them in uncertainty as to the exact time of the onslaught, their lines were heavily shelled every morning by the artillery, and to gain the full advantage of surprise, what was virtually a night attack was planned. The British Army might be unimaginative and unenterprising in strategy, but it was bold and audacious in the use of tactical expedients. A night attack demands the most careful arrangements by the Staff and a high standard of discipline on the part of the troops engaged. ”

“ Not only has the fighting spirit of the infantry of the Division been admirable, but the manner in which the divisional artillery has helped and supported the infantry shows that a high degree of training has been attained, and it is with regret that I am informed that the Division is to be transferred to another army. ”

“ To old or young a time absolutely apart from any former experience, a time that we shall always look back to with pride in our race, a pride born not only of a four years’ weaving of heroic examples of selfless devotion to a common ideal, but of a background of good cheer and good fellowship—the outcome, in my belief, of men, for that period at least, not fearing to show themselves at their very best! ”

“ All available resources for war were immediately employed. The small but extremely efficient Regular Army, at once transported to France, played no inconsiderable part in checking the first onrush of the German armies, while the Navy swept the seas and bottled up the hostile fleet in its harbours. But our Regular land forces, amounting to little more than 150,000 men, were a scanty and inadequate contribution to the titanic contest that was raging in Europe, and Lord Kitchener asked the civilian population to furnish fresh armies. ”

“ Darkness had fallen when they reached the trenches near Eaucourt L’Abbaye and an intense hostile barrage added to the horror. With devilish accuracy the shells pitched near the communication trenches and many plunged right into them. Unspeakable was the fate of any man who was badly wounded that night; he sank below the mire and the men in the rear pressed on all unconscious that the welcome firmness, which momentarily sustained them, was the body of a comrade. Progress could be made only with the greatest exhaustion ”

“ Ably led, the men had brilliantly performed the most difficult operation in war—a withdrawal in face of the enemy. Men who after rough buffetings can at the end of a retreat turn round and confront the foe with unshaken nerve and steadfast courage have proved their manhood indeed, and this, the acid test of the true soldier, had been accomplished by the men of the Ninth. ”

“ Before the end of September the Germans had lost all their conquests of the spring, and were endeavouring to gain time behind the entrenchments of the Hindenburg Line.
With Germany in the toils all pith and sting dropped from her allies. In the Balkans, General Franchet d’Espercy, now in command of the Entente forces in that area, commenced on the 15th September [335] an attack which in ten days forced the Bulgarians to sue for peace. With the collapse of Bulgaria the Central Powers lost their grasp on the Balkans, and there was no force of any consequence to make even a fight for Serbia. ”

“ No wounded, except those who could not handle a rifle, were allowed to quit the brigade area, but none complained or gave the slightest evidence of any desire to leave their comrades; the corporate heroism of the South Africans was beyond all praise. Every round was collected from casualties, and men not in the front line or not having occasion to use their rifles passed their ammunition to those who required it. By 2 P.M. the South Africans were completely surrounded, and were being fired at from the west as well as from the south and east. ”

“ If the war is to be viewed from the proper angle, it should never be forgotten that after August 1918 the Germans were men without hope, and to deduce our lessons of the war from the last four months of fighting would be the height of folly. None knew better than those who fought at Loos, the Somme, Arras, and Passchendaele, and who also took part in the victorious advance, that in the last months we were able with confidence to take risks which it would have been rash to take in 1915, 1916, and 1917. ”

“ To one in a deep dug-out the noise of a bombardment overhead has a peculiarly sinister and terrifying sound; even a shell that bursts a hundred yards away seems to fall at his door. In such a case a man who thinks more of his own skin than of his duty is loth to leave his refuge, and there were many instances during the battle of enemy garrisons being trapped in their dug-outs before they had time to man their parapets. The Germans had also erected skilfully concealed machine-gun posts, strengthened by concrete, and they [93] had several similarly protected posts for snipers. ”

“ Rescue was now impossible, and the South Africans grimly set themselves to sell their lives at the highest price. Between 2 and 3 P.M. German troops in the north were seen to retire, and wild hope surged through the men that the Thirty-fifth Division, which was known to be coming up, was now within reach; but the enemy had come under his own machine-gun fire from the west and was merely withdrawing from the danger zone. ”

“ The enemy seemed resolved to dispute every inch of ground, and shortly after zero he put down a fierce counter-barrage on our leading troops and swept the ranks of the 28th Brigade with gusts of machine-gun fire; but in spite of grave losses the infantry made headway and by 10.30 A.M. some of them were on the objective from Klein Ronsse Hill to the Chapel near Ingoyghem. But all the ground had not been cleared; every farm with its steading was a centre of resistance and furious conflicts were being waged in rear of the objective. The leadership was excellent. ”

“ During these days of suspense Brig.-General Tudor was in command of the Ninth, General Blacklock having gone on leave on the 16th. The Corps Summary for the 19th stated that the attack was to be expected on the 20th or 21st. It would have been impossible for anyone to detect any trace of nervousness among our troops, and a remark in the diary of the Highland Brigade on the 6th March that “the enemy is supposed to be going to attack here” reflected in its cheerful unconcern the attitude of the men. ”

“ A few casualties were inflicted by machine-guns, but the smoke-screen was most effective, and owing to this the enemy’s shooting was very erratic. The ardour of our troops could scarcely be restrained; flushed with success, they kept close up to the barrage and in many cases passed through it. The Bavarians had built up a worthy reputation during the war, but before they had time to show fight our men were upon them. On reaching the Black Line the Black Watch captured the regimental commander and the adjutant of the 8th Bavarians, who had not realised that a battle was in progress. ”

“ Though American troops had taken their place in the line by December, great numbers of trained men could not be expected to reach the Western Front from the United States until well on in 1918, and it was certain that Germany would make a supreme effort to snatch victory before their arrival. For such an emergency the British forces in France were perilously short of men, yet on the plea of home defence, which was absurd while the Navy controlled the seas, the Government retained in this country large bodies of troops urgently needed by Sir Douglas Haig as reinforcements. ”