John Stirling

“ On the right the attack of the XVII. Corps, launched, at the same hour by the 52nd and 57th Divisions, directed its main force on the triangle of fortifications, marking the junction of the Hindenburg and Drocourt-Quéant lines, north-west of the village of Quéant. Pressed with equal vigour it met with success equally complete. There was stern fighting in the net-work of trenches, both north and south of Quéant, in which neighbourhood the 52nd (Lowland) Division performed distinguished service, and, by the progress they made, greatly assisted our advance further north. ”

“ A list of the battles in which a division has been present affords some idea of its services to the Empire, but opportunities varied according to the theatre, and while the work of those troops which went early to the East was of inestimable importance and while very many of their battalions fought in Mesopotamia, Palestine and elsewhere, they had no chance of employment as divisions in the field, hence, through no fault of their own, their honours as divisions are nil. ”

“ Paragraph 18: “On the morning of the 22nd March the ground was again enveloped in thick mist, under cover of which the enemy renewed his attacks in great strength all along the line. Fighting was again very heavy, and short-range fire from guns, rifles and machine-guns caused enormous losses to the enemy’s troops. The weight of his attack, however, combined with the impossibility of observing beforehand and engaging with artillery the massing of his troops, enabled him to press forward.” ”

“ The enemy continued to exercise great pressure at Estaires and fierce street fighting took place, in which both sides lost heavily. Machine guns mounted by our troops in the upper rooms of houses did great execution on his troops as they moved up to the attack, until the machine guns were knocked out by artillery fire. In the evening the German infantry once more forced their way into Estaires, and after a most gallant resistance the 50th Division withdrew at nightfall to a prepared position to the north and west of the town. ”

“ In his despatch of 15th June, 1915, Sir John French mentioned that the First Army made an effort to advance its line in the Neuve Chapelle-Festubert district during May, the Battle of Festubert, and said, paragraph 5: “On 24th and 25th May the 47th Division (2nd London Territorial) succeeded in taking some more of the enemy’s trenches, and in making good the ground gained to the east and north.” Various writers say that in this, the Division’s first big battle, they made a very fine advance and held the ground gained against many counter-attacks, during the succeeding days. ”

“ When one reads the detailed accounts of the work done by any of the divisions on the Lys one is filled with wonder and amazement at the power of endurance, the unbending and self-sacrificing spirit and technical efficiency of units, many of which had suffered a 50 per cent. loss a fortnight or less before the 9th April, and were to the extent of a full half composed of lads sent to France after 22nd March.
The 49th Division was moved to the south and joined the XXII. Corps at the end of August 1918. On 12th September they relieved the 51st in the Plouvain sector, east of Arras. ”

“ The enemy trenches opposite the right front of the attack, near the pivotal point, had not been seriously bombarded by the artillery owing to shortage of shells. At that time a preliminary bombardment was a mere pretence when contrasted with what it became in 1917 or 1918, while the creeping barrage had not yet been devised. The 8th Battalion Scottish Rifles, the right battalion of the 156th Brigade, supported by the 7th Battalion, found themselves, as soon as they were “over the top,” subjected to a murderous enfilade machine-gun fire from the right flank. ”

“ After mentioning the capture of Ribecourt by the 6th Division and the storming of Havrincourt by the 62nd, Sir Douglas Haig said: “The capture of these two villages secured the flanks of the 51st (Highland) Division (T.) , Major-General G. M. Harper, advancing on the left centre of our attack up the slopes of Flesquières Hill against the German trench lines on the southern side of Flesquières village. Here very heavy fighting took place. The stout brick wall skirting the Château grounds opposed a formidable obstacle to our advance, while German machine guns swept the approaches. ”

“ In the case of some which operated in France the urgency of affairs, in the early years of the War, was such as to necessitate their employment as reinforcements in single battalions to Regular brigades, and it must not be forgotten that the component parts of some divisions, such as the 55th and 56th, were nearly a year, more in the case of some battalions, in France before they were concentrated as divisions. In their case again a mere list of battle honours in that [Pg 204] formation is inadequate as a token of their value. ”

“ At no time during their long war-service did the Division experience a greater physical strain than on this march. The 52nd on the left were nearer the coast, with its sea air, and on the whole had harder going. The two brigades of the 42nd were wading and struggling in loose desert sand while the heat was intense. Very many men collapsed. Sir A. Murray in the despatch, paragraph 5, said: “Vigorous action, to the utmost limits of endurance was ordered for the 5th August and the troops, in spite of the heat, responded nobly.” ”

“ Paragraph 8 describes a further advance, 8th to 12th March, in which the XX. Corps “had to drive the enemy from ridge to ridge.” On the 9th the right brigade of the 60th Division, which had crossed the Wadi el Auja, north of Jericho, in the dark, and “had subsequently met with determined resistance,” seized a position astride the Beisan-Jericho road. Other troops on their left also made good progress and by the 11th “a line had been captured with great natural facilities for defence.” ”

“ The troops are elements of the English 55th Division, which, after being engaged on the Somme, has suffered heavy losses in Flanders and at Cambrai, and was described by prisoners in March, 1918, as a division fit to hold a quiet sector, that is below the average quality.’
“The order containing the passages quoted above was distributed among all officers and under-officers of the 4th Ersatz Division down to platoon-commanders, presumably with a view to encouraging the troops prior to their attack, and in the belief that the opposition met with would not be very serious. ”

“ Part of the ground gained in the morning was lost in the afternoon but all was made good in another assault on the 24th after very fierce fighting. In the Arras battle the Division operated with the XVIII. and VII. Corps.
The Division was brought north in October and entered the line on the north side of the Ypres salient, where, as part of the XIV. Corps, they had an indescribably bad time amidst lakes of mud and water. Movement at the best could only be very slow, often it was impossible, and thus the losses of the attacking troops were rendered very heavy. ”

“ On June 6th, 1918, when the right flank of an English brigade, which had been heavily engaged, was threatened by the enemy’s advance, the battalion in reserve, the 1/4th Battalion of the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry, was ordered to deliver a counter-attack against an important position, from which the garrison had been driven. ”

“ A well-founded claim might be put forward that history records no instance where a large body of troops has come through, without loss of morale or fighting spirit, three such ordeals, within less than three months, as were endured by the divisions composing the British IX. Corps on the Aisne. Although one of them, the 8th, had not been on the Lys, it had very heavy fighting about Villers Bretonneux, which it assisted to recapture 24th/25th April, three weeks after the close of the March battle. ”

“ The facts recited by the Field-Marshals and Generals, who commanded the British Armies in the field, and the judgments expressed by them in their despatches seem to be the best, if not the only reliable, material from which to form an opinion on the value of the services of the Territorial Force in the great struggle. ”

“ Sir A. Conan Doyle mentions that on 12th May, 1915, before the close of the battle, the 5th London had only 200 men.
In Sir John French’s despatch of 20th November, 1914, dealing with the First Battle of Ypres, 11th October to 12th November, he said, paragraph 10: “In the period covered by this despatch Territorial troops have been used for the first time in the Army under my command,” and he mentioned “the London Scottish and Queen’s Westminster battalions” as among the units actually engaged; both were afterwards in the 56th Division. ”

“ The Australians attacked from the south on 23rd July and the 48th on their left from the south-west. Both attacks were pushed home with splendid resolution and by the 29th July the 48th had secured its objectives [Pg 42] north of the village. On the 27th the 145th Brigade did exceptionally well. After a short rest the Division was, about 10th August, again in the line, pushing towards the ridge. A strong counter-attack was driven back on the 17th and on the 18th the 143rd Brigade captured a big stretch of trenches and 600 prisoners. ”

“ About the close of 1915 and early in 1916 the 1/4th Hampshire Regiment, 1/4th Somersetshire Light Infantry and 1/4th Devonshire Regiment, all of the 43rd, and 1/5th Royal West Surrey and 1/5th East Kent Regiments of the 44th Division were in the Mesopotamia Army and had heavy casualties. Some of the 43rd Division were actually in Kut when it was besieged and were taken prisoners on the surrender of General Townshend’s force. Other battalions of these three divisions sent drafts from India to Mesopotamia, which were, for the most part, attached to Regular regiments. ”

“ Second Line The Division went to France in January 1917. In March and April 1917, Gough’s Fifth Army, which contained the 7th, 58th and 62nd Divisions and Australians, was pressing the enemy towards the Hindenburg line, south of Bullecourt. In April as that line was approached the resistance became stronger. While the Arras battle was proceeding on the left (see 56th Division) the Fifth Army had some severe struggles, in the course of which the line at Bullecourt was pierced. In these actions the Australians did splendid work and they were nobly backed up by the three British divisions. ”

“ A covering party, consisting of two companies of the 1/15th Battalion London Regiment, 47th Division, much reduced in strength by the fighting at Bourlon Wood, found their flank exposed by a hostile attack further east and were enveloped and practically cut off. These companies successfully cut their way through to our advanced line of resistance, where they arrived in good order after having inflicted serious casualties on the enemy.” As to the Cambrai battle see also under 51st, 55th, 56th and 62nd Divisions. ”

“ This Katrah-El-Mughar line forms a very strong position, and it was here that the enemy made his most determined resistance against the turning movement directed against his right flank. The capture of this position by the 52nd (Lowland) Division, assisted by a most dashing charge of mounted troops, who galloped across the plain under heavy fire and turned the enemy’s position from the north, was a fine feat of arms. Some 1100 prisoners, 3 guns and many machine guns were taken here. ”

“ Paragraph 10: In the afternoon the position was that the 52nd could not advance. A large area of extremely broken ground had been made exceedingly strong by the enemy, and the nests of machine guns could not be located and destroyed. The attack was eventually abandoned, the British losses being about 7000 men, but all ground gained was consolidated and kept. The “left brigade” was the 155th, the 156th was on the right and the 157th in reserve. The capture of the objectives involved an advance of two miles, with little cover, and only moderate artillery support. ”

“ Under conditions that made rest and sleep impossible for days together, and called incessantly for the greatest physical exertion and quickness of thought, officers and men remained undismayed, realising that for the time being they must play a waiting game, and determined to make the enemy pay the full price for the success which for the moment was his. ”

“ None but the very best troops could have [Pg 200] attempted, let alone have succeeded in, such an enterprise, and the crossing of the Selle at Le Cateau will always remain, like the struggle in Delville Wood in 1916, a lasting testimony to the fighting qualities of the South African soldier.” A captured German order contained the sentence: “The English must not cross the Selle on our front.” ”

“ The Corps Commander congratulates 42nd Division on their magnificent behaviour during the last few days of fighting. Numerous heavy attacks have been made by the enemy and have been completely repulsed with heavy loss, and the capture of prisoners and machine-guns. ”