The history of the 9th (Scottish) Division, 1914-1919

Move of Division to France, May 1915—Instruction in Trench Duties— Bombing and Bombs—Visit by Field-Marshal Sir J. D. P. French— Festubert—Training near Busnes—Vermelles—General...

Terrain—Preliminary Bombardment, 21st to 24th Sept.—Action of 28th Brigade—Action of 6th K.O.S.B.—Action of 10th H.L.I.—Second Attack of 28th Brigade—Reasons for Failure of Atta...

Concentration of Division near Bethune—Major-General W. T. Furse and _Esprit de Corps_—New Commanders—Move to the Salient—Mud—The Reign of the Second Lieutenant—The Ninth Divisi...

Rest and Training—Move to Somme Area—Traffic of the Hinterland— Summary of Events, 1915 to 1916—Reasons for Battle of the Somme— Nature of the Somme Battlefield—The Policy of At...

The Assembly—Action of 26th Brigade, 14th July—Action of 27th Brigade, 14th July—News at D.H.Q.—The Fight for Longueval, 14th July—Attack on Waterlot Farm, 14th July—Situation o...

Rest and Reorganisation—The Vimy Ridge—The Trenches, Aug. and Sept. 1916—Sniping and Raids—Concentration in III. Corps Area, Oct. 1916—Summary of events in the East during summe...

Promotion of Brig.-General Scrase-Dickins, 21st Oct. 1916—Promotion of Brig.-General Ritchie, 4th Dec. 1916—General Furse appointed M.G.O., 1st Dec. 1916—General Lukin appointed...

Preliminary Bombardment, 5th to 9th April 1917—The Attack on the Black Line, 9th April 1917—The Attack on the Blue Line, 9th April 1917—The Attack on the Brown Line, 9th April 1...

Rest and Training—Move to the Somme, 25th July 1917—Description of Sector—Events of August 1917—A Suggested Attack—The Passchendaele Campaign—Von Armin’s System of Defence—The “...

Rôle of the Division in 1917—Situation at close of 1917—Move to the Coast, Oct. to Nov.—Division Transferred to Somme Area, Dec.— Training, Feb. 1918—9th Machine-Gun Battalion F...

Hostile Bombardment, 21st March—Loss of Gauche Wood, 21st March— Loss of Chapel Hill, 21st March—South Africans Recapture Chapel Hill, 21st March—Retreat to the Battle Zone, 21s...

Failure of German thrust against Amiens—General Tudor Appointed G.O.C., 28th March—Division in Line near Wytschaete, April—Nature of the Defences—German Attack, 10th April—Count...

Moral of the Troops—The Press—Review of Situation at end of April, 1918—The Division at Meteren, May—Nature of the country and the Defences—Events, 25th May to 19th July—Prepara...

Passchendaele Ridge carried, 28th Sept.—Capture of Becelaere— Situation at close of 28th Sept.—Orders for Advance on 29th Sept.—Action of the 28th Brigade, 29th Sept.—The Camero...

Action of the 14th Oct.—Fine work of the Gunners, 14th Oct.—Plans for Renewal of Advance, 15th Oct.—Action of 27th Brigade, 15th Oct.—Plans for crossing the Lys, 16th Oct.—K.O.S...

Events leading up to the Armistice, 11th Nov. 1918—The March to the Bridgehead—The Division in Germany—End of the Ninth Division, 15th March 1919—Value of the Administrative and...

The great European War that broke out in 1914 was the inevitable result of the conditions that moulded the nineteenth century. In many respects the history of the century had di...

All units had practised entraining, and the move to France was accomplished without a hitch. The artillery were the first to go, the advance parties leaving Bordon on 8th May; t...

The terrain, which was the scene of the Division’s first battle, included the feature of greatest tactical importance on the front of the British attack. The general advantage o...

It was a sadly battered Division that concentrated near Bethune. Caked in mud, unshaven, and unkempt, with tunics tattered and filthy after three days of continuous exposure, th...

After leaving the Ploegsteert area the Division was concentrated in billets near Bomy, where D.H.Q. were established. The men were in the best of spirits, and training and recre...

Not the least anxious part of the forthcoming battle was the assembly of the troops during the night of the 13th/14th July, for it was an audacious enterprise to form up in the...

After being withdrawn from the battle, the Division was allowed a reasonable interval in which to heal its wounds. The last few days in the Somme area brought a much-appreciated...

On the 23rd November the Division was transferred from the Fourth to the Third Army, commanded by Sir Edmund Allenby. Most of the training and reorganisation was carried out in...

The preliminary bombardment of the German entrenched positions opened on the 5th April. Special attention was devoted to counter-battery work, and with the assistance of aeropla...

From the 13th June till the 26th July, the best part of the summer of 1917, the men remained out of the line, and this unusually long and welcome rest enabled the Division to re...

The operations of the 12th October concluded the share of the Division in the fighting of 1917. It had played an important part in all the big battles except Messines and it had...

The 21st March 1918 was big with destiny; on that day began the battle on the issue of which depended the fate of Germany and the world. At first the omens seemed favourable to...

In spite of their success in forcing the passage of the Somme on the 27th March, the Germans had shot their bolt, and though they had secured the most extensive acreage ever tak...

The moral of our troops was a subject of frequent notice in the Press during March and April, and it was so persistently stated that it had not been affected by reverses and dis...

Three hours before zero on the 28th September the Belgians commenced their preliminary bombardment, which on our front provoked little retaliation. Heavy rain was falling and it...

The barrage opened at 5.32 A.M. on the 14th October and three minutes later the infantry moved forward. The Black Watch company and the left of the Royal Scots Fusiliers experie...

At the beginning of November 1918 Germany stood alone against her enemies. The tottering empire of Austria soon shared the fate of Bulgaria and Turkey. The Italian armies, which...