Chapter XXXI: Appendix: VIII (3)

[56] A “Chinese Attack” was not an attack; but the artillery put down the same sort of bombardment that was the usual prelude to an advance, moving by lifts over the enemy’s system and then suddenly coming back to his front line, and so catching his infantry when they were manning the trenches to repel the expected assault.

[57] Consisting of Bavarians of the 6th Bavarian Reserve Division.

[58] This was denied by the artillery, who suggested that the shells complained of were fired by the enemy; but many British fuses were found in the front trenches.

[59] These were Saxons of the 40th Division, which had relieved the Bavarians.

[60] Many dead South Africans were seen in front of Snag Trench by the 27th Brigade.

[61] Commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Sir George Abercromby since the 20th September; Lieut.-Colonel Gordon, D.S.O., was promoted to a brigade in the Forty-first Division.

[62] Here more might have been done to help the men by divisions in the line handing over stores to those taking over. It would have saved trouble if the ammunition for the machine-guns had been kept in sealed boxes and handed over; this plan was adopted later.

[63] The artillery stayed in and supported the attack by the Fiftieth Division on the Butte.

[64] Unfortunately long and constant strain had told on his health, and shortly after his appointment to the Thirty-seventh Division he was invalided to England.

[65] For his services in the war General Furse received the K.C.B. in June 1917.

[66] In _Three Years with the Ninth Division_ Lieut.-Colonel Croft discusses several questions of interest to C.Os.

[67] The barrage fell along three sides of a rectangle, screening the infantry from the front and the flanks.

[68] News from the very start was good. Brig.-General Tudor, who was in the trenches watching the raid, was in touch with the front line by telephone, and the only reports he received were, “One more penny”—“Two more pennies,” etc. “Penny” was the code word for prisoner.

[69] The following message was sent by Sir Douglas Haig on the 16th:—“Congratulate the Ninth Scottish Division, and particularly the 9th Scottish Rifles, on the success of their raid carried out on the 14th.”

[70] In the Ninth, however, it was thought that the principal factor was surprise, and the raid of the “Rifles” already referred to was undertaken to show that a preliminary bombardment was not necessary for success.

[71] At the end of January a party of the Division proceeding along the road to Arras was accosted by a Canadian soldier. “Hullo, what crowd are you?” “Ninth Division” was the reply, and then came the exclamation, “Huh! the scrappin’ Ninth.” The Canadian’s tone of mingled friendship, admiration, and uneasiness betrayed more clearly than any words his firm conviction that storm-troops were gathering for a battle.

[72] Haig’s Despatches, vol. i., p. 81.

[73]

14th Brigade R.H.A.
50th ” R.F.A.
51st ” R.F.A.
52nd ” A.F.A. (taken from the Ninth in January).
23rd ” A.F.A.
29th ” R.F.A.
32nd ” R.F.A.

[74] The enemy opposing us consisted of the 1st and 24th Bavarian Reserve Divisions.

[75] _A Short History of the Great War_, p. 257.

[76] The original Green Line consisted of the strongly-wired trenches immediately west and north of Fampoux. Shortly before the attack on the 9th April the final objective was altered so as to include the hostile positions just west of the Roeux-Gavrelle road and the village of Fampoux.

[77] Major Sir J. Campbell commanded the 11th, and Major Macpherson the 12th Royal Scots in this action.

[78] Brig.-General Tudor, who was assisting the Fourth Division, received news of the battle so late that he had no time to reconnoitre.

[79] On the 9th April D.H.Q. were at Etrun; they moved forward to St Nicholas only on the 12th April.

[80] General Lukin on 18th April suggested that the South African Brigade should be withdrawn from the Division on account of its weakness and its lack of reinforcements.

[81] While this chapter was being written, news came of the cold-blooded murder of this officer in the County Club, Cork, on the 17th July 1920 by a dozen so-called patriots.

If ever a man lived who deserved a fair field and a fair fight it was Colonel Smyth. A more gallant and honourable gentleman never lived. As a captain in the Royal Engineers he commanded the 90th Field Coy. R.E. in the Ninth Division till October 1916, when he was promoted to the command of the 6th K.O.S.B. In October 1918 he commanded the 93rd Brigade in the Thirty-first Division as a Brig.-General.

Major-General H. H. Tudor, when given command of the Police Forces in Ireland in June 1920, found Colonel Smyth in command again of a Field Coy. R.E. in Ireland, and, knowing his worth, secured his appointment as one of his deputy commissioners.

[82] Major Macpherson was wounded in the action of the 12th April, and the command of the battalion was taken over by Lieut.-Colonel Ritson.

[83] Commanded since the 3rd May by Major A. R. Innes Browne.

[84] These were the 3/10th Royal West Surrey Regiment, 3/10th Royal West Kent Regiment, 3/10th Middlesex Regiment.

[85] Commanded by Lieut.-General Sir E. A. Fanshawe.

[86] Now commanded by Lieut.-Colonel H. D. M. Maclean, the original C.O. of the battalion, who returned to France in August.

[87] Lieut.-Colonel W. Lumsden succeeded Lieut.-Colonel Fulton at the end of July.

[88] Commanded since April by Lieut.-Colonel Macleod.

[89] Temporarily commanded by Major Cochran.

[90] Lieut.-Colonel Croft was promoted to the command of a brigade a few days before the battle, and the battalion was now commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Sir J. Campbell.

[91] 32 officers, 312 other ranks.

[92] Commanded by General Sir Ivor Maxse.

[93] See Map.

[94] Commanded by Lieut.-Colonel R. W. Hadow since September.

[95] Commanded since the beginning of October by Lieut.-Colonel A. G. M. M. Crichton.

[96] Commanded in this action by Major Scott.

[97] The enemy opposing the division on this occasion was the Sixteenth Division, which had the honour of being classed by our G.H.Q. as a first-rate division.

[98] Commanded in this action by Major A. R. Innes Browne.

[99] On leaving the Fifth Army the Division received the following message from General Sir Hubert Gough:—

“The Ninth Division has fought splendidly while it has been in the Fifth Army and maintained the great reputation of the Scottish Divisions in France. The Division achieved a very notable success on 20th September and played a gallant part during the severe fighting of 12th October. In spite of the casualties sustained and the demands made upon the men’s endurance during the past six weeks, the Division’s moral remains as high as ever. Well done, everybody!”

[100] Commanded by Sir W. Congreve, V.C.

[101] Later General Lukin was awarded the K.C.B., an honour which gave much gratification to the Division.

[102] The 2nd Regiment was now commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Christian. Lieut.-Colonel Tanner was promoted to the command of the 8th Brigade (Third Division).

[103] Lieut.-Colonel Horn of the 7th Seaforths took over the command of the Army Musketry Camp on the 18th October; the battalion was commanded by Major P. C. Anderson during the retreat.

Lieut.-Colonel Crichton left the Camerons in March, and was succeeded by Lieut.-Colonel J. Inglis.

[104] Lieut.-Colonel Sir J. Campbell being on leave, the 11th Royal Scots were commanded by Major A. C. Campbell during the retreat.

Lieut.-Colonel Maclean left the K.O.S.B. in October 1917, and was succeeded by Lieut.-Colonel Smyth, who returned to France at the end of September.

[105] The 18th Division, for example, after holding the Villers-Guislain-Gonnelieu sector for fourteen days was relieved on the 3rd March by the 107th Division, a prisoner from which said that his division had undergone intensive training for an attack and break through.

[106] The northern attack was entrusted to the 17th Army, the southern to the 2nd and 18th Armies.

[107] For a clear, full, and concise account of the boundary question between the Fifth and Third Armies, see article in the April (1920) number of the _National Review_, entitled, the “Epic of the Ninth Division,” by W. S. Sparrow.

[108] “After being captured at La Motte, near Corbie, I was taken to the German Battalion H.Q. for examination by an intelligence officer. In the course of this examination the officer asked me if I knew the Ninth Division; he said that the fight it put up was considered one of the best on the whole front, and particularly the last stand of the South African Brigade at (I think) Moislains, which, he said, was magnificent. Both men and officers fought to the last against overwhelming odds, the brigadier himself being taken, firing a machine-gun whilst his brigade major was killed beside him.

“After this conversation I was sent to Le Cateau, and on the way many German officers spoke to me and all mentioned the splendid fight put up by the South Africans.

“On reaching Le Cateau, I met two officers (British), who said that whilst their party was being marched to this place, they were stopped by the Kaiser, who asked if anyone present belonged to the Ninth Division. The Kaiser then said that had all divisions fought as well as the Ninth Division he would have had no more troops to carry on his attack with.”

[109] W. S. Sparrow in “The Epic of the Ninth Division.”

[110] “Great gallantry has been shown by the troops engaged in the fighting in this area and to the south of it. The Nineteenth and Ninth Divisions have distinguished themselves by the valour of their defence.”

(_Extract from Communiqué published by the Press on the 25th March._)

[111] The 1st Regiment was commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Young; the 2nd Regiment by Captain Jacobs; and the 4th Regiment by Captain Reid.

[112] Commanded since the 7th April by Lieut.-Colonel the Honourable David Bruce.

[113] Under the command of Lieut.-Colonel H. W. M. Bamford of the 2nd Regiment.

[114] The K.O.S.B. had been commanded by Major Innes Brown since the 24th March; he was killed at Hill 60 on the 10th April, and was succeeded first by Lieut.-Colonel Chamberlain, and then by Major H. J. Wilkie.

[115] “Three weeks ago to-day the enemy began his terrific attack against us on a fifty-mile front. His objects are to separate us from the French, to take the Channel Ports, and destroy the British Army. In spite of throwing already 106 divisions into the battle and enduring the most reckless sacrifice of human life, he has as yet made little progress towards his goals.

“We owe this to the determined fighting and self-sacrifice of our troops. Words fail me to express the admiration which I feel for the splendid resistance offered by all ranks of our Army under the most trying circumstances.

“Many amongst us now are tired. To those I would say, that victory will belong to the side which holds out the longest. The French Army is moving rapidly and in great force to our support. There is no other course open to us but to fight it out.

“Every position must be held to the last man. There must be no retirement. With our backs to the wall and believing in the justice of our cause, each one of us must fight to the end. The safety of our homes and the freedom of mankind depend alike upon the conduct of each one of us at this critical moment.”

(_Special Order issued by Field-Marshal Sir Douglas Haig on 12th April._)

[116] “Farther north a heavy attack launched by the enemy this morning against our lines in the neighbourhood of Wytschaete and Hollebeke (the Messines Ridge) was completely repulsed by the Ninth Division with great loss to the enemy.”

(_Extract from the official Communiqué of the 11th April._)

Before this appeared the Corps Commander informed the G.O.C. that Sir Douglas Haig and Marshal Foch fully appreciated the valuable work performed by the Division. This was communicated to units in the following message:—

“The Corps Commander wishes it to be known that the Commander-in-Chief, in course of conversation with him, said that it was mainly due to the stubborn resistance of the Ninth Division that the Army was now in a position to hold on to the present line. If the Ninth Division had not held on there would have been no alternative but to retire a long way back. He also stated that General Foch fully appreciated what had been done by the Ninth Division.”—No. A. 9837/12, 17/4/18.

[117] “Please convey to General Tudor and to all ranks of the Ninth Division my deepest appreciation of the great gallantry displayed by them during many days of severe fighting north of the Lys. In the stubborn struggle for the Ridge at Wytschaete, with which their name will always be associated, as well as on many other occasions, they have shown the same high qualities which distinguished them throughout the Battle south of Arras, and have most worthily upheld the traditions of the British Army.”

(_Ninth Division_, No. A. 9827/28.)

[118] After the fighting near Kemmel Lieut.-Colonel J. Colchester Wemyss commanded the battalion until Lieut.-Colonel Smyth returned at the end of May.

[119] In June Lieut.-Colonel Ritson left for England and the battalion from the time it went into the line near the end of May was commanded by Lieut.-Colonel J. Murray.

[120] 1 field-gun, captured at Gaza Cross Roads; 6 heavy trench mortars; 6 light trench mortars; 11 heavy machine-guns; 36 light machine-guns; 1 stick-bomb thrower.

[121] 20 heavy machine-guns, 22 light machine-guns, 342 rifles.

[122] “I wish to express to you and to your officers, warrant officers, N.C.Os. and men of the brigade under your command my great regret that the exigencies of the Service prevented me seeing you all personally before you were transferred from the Ninth Division in order to say good-bye. For two and a half years your brigade has shared the fortunes of the Ninth Division. At Delville Wood, at Arras, at Ypres, in the Somme retreat, and finally at Meteren, it has fully contributed in establishing and maintaining the glorious record of this Division. The South African Brigade bore the brunt of the attack on the divisional front in March 1918, and its final stand at Bouchavesnes on 24th March, when it held out all day until all ammunition was exhausted, will live as one of the bravest feats of arms in the war. The cheery keenness and comradeship with which the South African Brigade has always worked and fought will be very much missed by me personally and by all the Ninth Division. We wish you and your brigade the best of fortune, and know that you will always fully maintain the splendid name you have earned.”

(_General Tudor’s Letter to Brig.-General Tanner._)

[123] Commanded by Lieut.-Colonel French since August.

[124] The 28th Brigade was given a narrower front in the advance to the first objective in order to ensure that a sufficient force would still be in hand, after Frezenberg Ridge was reached, to press home the attack along the main ridge, most of which lay within the right brigade sector.

[125] Owing to the small number of field-guns per yard (one gun to about 45 yards) the Division had to depend chiefly on smoke for the barrage, and the guns fired two rounds of smoke to one of H.E.

[126] A great deal of trouble had been taken to arrange the right hour for zero, but all the calculations of the Divisional Staff were completely upset by the fact that the morning was cloudy with drizzling rain.

[127] The 28th Brigade A.F.A. was attached to the Division.

[128] The 6th and 7th Cavalry Divisions, consisting of men of fine physique, who, according to their own statements, were known as the “War-prolongers” because they remained full of fight while the resisting power of other German troops was diminishing.

[129] The cavalry in reserve consisted of the 3rd French Cavalry Brigade, which, however, was not under the orders of the G.O.C. Ninth Division.

[130] A tribute greatly cherished by the Division was received from General C. W. Jacobs in a Special Order issued on the 3rd October:—

“As the first phase of the operations which began on the 28th September 1918 is over, I wish to express to you and all ranks of the Ninth Division my gratitude and thanks for the splendid work which has been achieved.

“The Ninth Division was specially selected to carry out the attack on the left flank of the British Second Army and to cover the right flank of the Belgian Army attack. The objectives given were rather more distant than those we have attempted hitherto in Flanders, but, owing to the splendid leading of yourself and the officers of all units, not only were all those objectives gained, but you broke right through the enemy’s line to a depth of 9¼ miles. In 1917 it took our Army over three months to get only half that distance, and at great cost. The Ninth Division has done it, and a great deal more, in twenty-four hours. What further evidence is required of the magnificence of this exploit?

“The Ninth Division has done splendidly all through the war, but these last operations will be considered by history to have eclipsed all their previous performances. In the last few days the conditions have been trying and you have had to beat off many counter-attacks. The weather has been bad and shelter has been very scanty. Yet the spirit of all ranks has always kept at a high level and you have upheld the splendid traditions of the British Army and of the Division in particular.”

[131] These earned another “mention” for the Division. “In these successful operations the Ninth Division, forming part of the command of General Jacobs’ II. Corps, has again fought with great distinction.”

(_Extract from official Communiqué, 16th October._)

[132] This however was practically impossible when the crossing was not to be carried out simultaneously by the attacking divisions.

[133] Major King who was commanding the Royal Scots Fusiliers was wounded near Belgiek, and the command of the battalion was taken over by Captain J. S. Glass.

[134] On the 23rd Lieut.-Colonel R. Campbell, D.S.O., who had seen a great deal of service with the Fifty-first Division, took over the command of the battalion.

[135] Prisoners captured, 54 officers, 2555 other ranks; guns captured, 64.

[136] Near the end of October a staff officer of the Ninth went to the Divisional Signals Office to find out if there was any news. The answer was “Yes, sir, Austria has thrown in her ‘mit.’” It was thus that a phlegmatic Scottish soldier announced the fall of the ancient Empire of the Hapsburgs, the oldest reigning family in Europe and heirs of the Holy Roman Empire!

[137] The fact that some Germans were relieved of their watches may have been due to a custom that had sprung up during four years of war, or to some confusion of mind about the “Watch on the Rhine”!

[138] The sight of a field ambulance racing through the streets of Cologne, with the R.A.M.C. men running breathlessly behind it, in order to reach its position in time is believed to have enormously impressed the citizens.

[139] See Appendix VIII.

[140] See Appendix IV.

[141] The A.S.C. became R.A.S.C. 25/11/18. A.O. (362/1918.)

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE

Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been
corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within
the text and consultation of external sources.

Some hyphens in words have been silently removed, some added,
when a predominant preference was found in the original book.

All times have been made consistent using a decimal point and
not a mid-dot eg 6.35 A.M. All calibre sizes have been made
consistent using a mid-dot eg 3·7-inch.

The table in Appendix VII and the List of Illustrations in the
Addendum both have an asterisk Note placed at the bottom of the
table (not a Footnote).

Except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the text,
and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained.

Pg xi: ‘Lo s of Fosse’ replaced by ‘Loss of Fosse’.
Pg xvii: ‘Law e Farm’ replaced by ‘Lawrence Farm’.
Pg 21: ‘No. 8-Haisnes’ replaced by ‘No. 8—to Haisnes’.
Pg 115: ‘At 5.5 ’ replaced by ‘At 5.50’.
Pg 154: ‘for 2.5 ’ replaced by ‘for 2.50’.
Pg 187: ‘at 6.4 ’ replaced by ‘at 6.40’.
Pg 187: ‘by 1.2 ’ replaced by ‘by 1.20’.
Pg 336: ‘near Metern’ replaced by ‘near Meteren’.
Pg 403: ‘” to Armistice’ replaced by ‘” Armistice’.
Pg 420: ‘Beauchamp Ridge’ replaced by ‘Beaucamp Ridge’.

Memorial Addendum
Pg 14: ‘Le Mutilés’ replaced by ‘Les Mutilés’.