Part 6

Paragraph 33 and note, also 35 and 36 of the despatch, show that the 51st along with other troops took part in the attack on the Beaumont Hamel-St. Pierre Divion position on 13th November, now the “Battle of the Ancre, 1916.” In a note to paragraph 33 it is remarked: “As the season advanced and the bad weather continued the scope of our plan had constantly to be reduced, until finally it was only possible to undertake the much more limited operation of the 13th November against Beaumont Hamel. The brilliant success of this attack, carried out as it was under most difficult conditions of ground, affords some indication of what might have been accomplished had the weather permitted us to give fuller effect to our original plan.” The 51st Division captured the village, which was very strongly fortified, and over 2000 prisoners, their own losses being about 2500.

The “brilliant success” of the Division in the Beaumont Hamel battle brought it fame which was to endure and increase as the years of the war rolled on.

During December 1916, and part of January 1917, the Division was in the Courcelette sector where things were far from peaceful and hardships were extreme. In February they moved north to Arras, and remained there till the Battle of Arras.

The despatch of 25th December, 1917, paragraphs 13 and 14, and note to paragraph 13 (Dent’s edition), describes the opening stages of the Battles of Arras which began on 9th April, 1917. The 51st, then in the XVII. Corps, Third Army, attacked east of Roclincourt, north-east of Arras; they were near the left of the line and next the Canadians whose task it was to seize the main Vimy Ridge. The 51st and its neighbour on the right, the 34th, had heavy fighting. “Their advance was delayed, not checked.” The whole attack on the 9th was a great success. The fighting between the 9th and 14th is now the First Battle of the Scarpe, 1917. On the 12th the Division left the line, re-entering it on the 15th-16th and remaining in the battle till the 24th-25th.

Paragraph 21 deals with a big attack which our troops made on 23rd April on a front of nine miles, the Second Battle of the Scarpe, 1917. “North of the Scarpe Highland Territorials (51st Division) were engaged in heavy fighting on the western outskirts of Rœux Wood and the chemical works.” “During the afternoon many counter-attacks developed all along the line and were repeated by the enemy with the utmost determination regardless of the heavy losses inflicted by our fire.” “North of the Scarpe fierce fighting continued for the possession of Rœux, the chemical works and the station to the north without producing any lasting change in the situation.” The attack was renewed on the 24th and more progress was then made, the enemy’s resistance weakening. For their “splendid” work on the 23rd, the Division was thanked and congratulated by the Corps and Army Commanders.

The losses of the Division during April amounted to about 4500.

Paragraph 27, as to the fighting in May, Third Battle of the Scarpe, 1917: “On the night of the 13th-14th our troops (51st Division) captured Rœux.” The Division drove back some very heavy counter-attacks. Fighting continued for some days. The Army Commander again wired to the Division his congratulations “on their great gallantry at Rœux and the chemical works.”

The Division was relieved on the 31st May, and a few days later was taken to the Ypres sector, there to refit and prepare for another great battle.

Paragraph 41 of the despatch deals with the assault by the British troops on 31st July, 1917, the “Battle of Pilckem Ridge” at the beginning of the Third Battle of Ypres. The note in Messrs. Dent’s edition, p. 113, gives a list of the divisions employed. Among these is the 51st, then in the XVIII. Corps, Fifth Army. They were near the left of the British line. “Highland Territorials (51st Division) Welsh and Guards battalions secured the crossings of the Steenbeek.” All objectives were taken early in the day. The losses of the Division were about 1600 and they took about 650 prisoners.

Paragraph 50 describes a successful attack made on 20th September: “North of the Zonnebeke-Langemarck Road, London and Highland Territorials (58th and 51st Divisions) gained the whole of their objectives by midday though stiff fighting took place for a number of farms and strong places.”

This action is now the Battle of the Menin Road Ridge. The losses of the Division were 1150.

The Division received the congratulations of the Corps and Army commanders on their work in the Ypres battles. In his message the Corps Commander said: “I venture to place it among the three best fighting divisions I have met in France during the past three years.”

About this time the enemy published a statement that the 51st was the “most formidable division on the Western Front.”

In the beginning of October the Division was back in the area south-east of Arras.

The despatch of 20th February, 1918, paragraph 3, shows that the 51st Division was part of the attacking force at the Battle of Cambrai, 1917, which commenced on 20th November, 1917. 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. A number of tanks were knocked out by direct hits from German field batteries in position beyond the crest of the hill. None the less, with the exception of the village itself, our second objectives in this area were gained before midday.” Paragraph 4: “On the morning of the 21st November, the attack on Flesquières was resumed, and by 8 a.m. the village had been turned from the north-west and captured.” “Following upon the capture of Flesquières, the 51st and 62nd Divisions, in co-operation with a number of tanks and squadrons of the 1st Cavalry Division, attacked at 10.30 a.m. in the direction of Fontaine-Notre-Dame and Bourlon. In this attack the capture of Anneux was completed, and, early in the afternoon, Cantaing was seized with some hundreds of prisoners. Progress was made on the outskirts of Bourlon Wood and, late in the afternoon, Fontaine-Notre-Dame was taken by the troops of the 51st Division and tanks.”

The last-mentioned village was lost on the following day, see paragraph 6.

Paragraph 7: “On the morning of the 23rd November the 51st Division, supported by tanks, attacked Fontaine-Notre-Dame, but was unable to force an entrance. Early in the afternoon this Division repeated its attack from the west, and a number of tanks entered Fontaine, where they remained till dusk, inflicting considerable loss on the enemy. We did not succeed, however, in clearing the village, and at the end of the day no progress had been made on this part of our front.”

On the 27th the Guards Division, which had relieved the 51st, again entered the much fought-for village, but it was partly commanded by the Bourlon ridge and could not be held.

The 51st were not in the line on the 30th when the German counter-offensive took place. See 47th, 55th and 56th Divisions.

In the Cambrai battle the casualties of the Division were 1570. They took 2690 unwounded prisoners.

The great German offensive of March 1918 is dealt with in the despatch of 20th July, 1918. The 51st Division were then in the IV. Corps, Third Army, and were holding front line positions near Hermies, west of the Flesquières salient. On their right was the 17th Division of the V. Corps and on their left, about Lagnicourt, the 6th Division of the IV. Corps; see map opposite p. 186 of Messrs. Dent’s edition of the _Despatches_.

In paragraph 16 Sir Douglas Haig, dealing with the 21st March, said: “On the Third Army front our line in the Flesquières salient had not been heavily attacked and was substantially intact. Beyond this sector fierce fighting took place around Demicourt and Doignies, and north of the village of Baumetz-lez-Cambrai. In this area the 51st Division, under the command of Major-General G. T. C. Carter-Campbell, was heavily engaged, but from noon onwards practically no progress was made by the enemy.”

In his telegraphic despatch of 22nd March, after referring to the exceptional gallantry of the 24th and 3rd Divisions, Sir Douglas Haig said: “A very gallant fight was made by the 51st Division also, in the neighbourhood of the Bapaume-Cambrai road, against repeated attacks.”

In paragraph 21 of the written despatch, dealing with the 22nd March, Sir Douglas Haig said: “In the neighbourhood of Baumetz the enemy continued his assaults with great determination, but was held by the 51st Division and a brigade of the 25th Division until the evening. Our troops were then withdrawn, under orders, to positions south of the village.”

The fighting between 21st and 23rd March is now the Battle of St. Quentin, and that on 24th-25th March, the First Battle of Bapaume.

During the next few days the 51st Division fought many critical rearguard actions. It was thereafter taken out of the line. Its total losses since the morning of the 21st were over 4900.

About 1st April the Division entrained for the Béthune area and it was hoped that things would be quieter there; that hope was quickly to be blasted.

The same despatch deals with the German offensive in Flanders which commenced on 9th April. See also 49th, 50th, 55th and 61st Divisions.

Paragraph 51 deals with the opening of the Lys battle on 9th April. It is there stated: “Meanwhile, shortly after the opening of the bombardment, orders had been given to the 51st and 50th Divisions to move up behind Richebourg-St.-Vaast and Laventie and take up their positions in accordance with the pre-arranged defence scheme. Both these divisions had also been heavily engaged in the Somme battle, and had but recently arrived in the neighbourhood.” In the course of the forenoon, when the left of the 55th Division had to move back to form a defensive flank, touch was established with the 51st. The 1st King Edwards Horse and 11th Cyclist Battalion who had covered the deployment of the 51st and 50th occupied Lacouture, etc.,” and “by their splendid defence of these places enabled troops of the 51st and 50th Divisions to come into action east of the Lawe river between Le Touret and Estaires.” A quotation as to the heavy fighting which took place during the afternoon of the 9th has already been given under the 50th, and some remarks by Sir Douglas Haig as to the splendid bearing of the divisions in the Lys battle have been given under the 49th.

In his telegraphic despatch of 11th April, Sir Douglas Haig said that “the 51st Division had beaten off incessant attacks with great loss to the enemy and, by vigorous and successful counter-attacks had recaptured positions into which the enemy had forced his way.”

Paragraph 58 of the written despatch shows that by a sudden attack just before dawn on April 12th the enemy broke through the left centre of the 51st Division about Pacaut and Diez du Vinage, but with the arrival of reinforcements “the enemy’s progress in this sector of the front was definitely checked.”

The Division had over 2500 casualties in the Lys battles. In a congratulatory message to the Division, dated 16th April, the First Army Commander said, “You have done wonders.”

About the beginning of May the Division moved to the area east of Arras and remained about Oppy till 11th July. Here they had a comparatively quiet time.

The despatch of 21st December, 1918, paragraphs 11 and 12, deals with the assistance afforded by the British to their Allies in the Second Battle of the Marne. It shows that the XXII. Corps, Lieut.-General Sir A. Godley, comprising the 15th, 34th, 51st and 62nd Divisions, were sent south in July. The two latter went to the east side of the salient. Paragraph 12 says: “On the 20th July, the 51st and 62nd Divisions of the XXII. Corps, attacked in conjunction with the French on the eastern side of the salient, south-west of Reims. The sector assigned to the British troops covered a front of 8000 yards, astride the Ardre river, and consisted of an open valley bottom, with steep wooded slopes on either side. Both valley and slopes were studded with villages and hamlets, which were for the most part intact, and afforded excellent cover for the enemy. On this front our troops were engaged for a period of ten days in continuous fighting of a most difficult and trying nature. Throughout this period steady progress was made, in the face of vigorous and determined resistance. Marfaux was taken on the 23rd July and on the 28th British troops retook the Montagne de Bligny which other British troops had defended with so much gallantry and success two months previously. In these operations, throughout which French artillery and tanks rendered invaluable assistance, the 51st and 62nd Divisions took 1200 prisoners from seven different German divisions and successfully completed an advance of over four miles.” This is now designated the “Battle of Tardenois.”

General Berthelot, commanding the Fifth French Army, issued on 1st August an eloquent Order of the Day as to the work of the two divisions, in which the British had made the Valley of the Ardre their own, “bountifully watered with their blood.” He mentioned that in addition to the prisoners 140 machine guns and 40 guns had been captured. “You, one and all, have added a glorious page to your history. Marfaux, Chaumuzy and the Montagne Bligny, these splendid words will be written in letters of gold in the annals of your regiments. Your French friends will remember your marvellous bravery and your perfect comradeship in arms.” Later, General Guillaumat, then commanding the Fifth Army, bestowed on the 6th Battalion, Black Watch, Royal Highlanders (Perthshire), the exceptionally high honour of being “cité à l’Ordre de l’Armée” as follows:—

THE 6TH BATTALION ROYAL HIGHLANDERS

“This battalion _d’élite_, under the forceful command of Lieutenant Colonel Francis Rowland Tarleton, has given proof of splendid spirit and dash in the course of the hard fought battles between July 20th and 30th, 1918. After seven days of bloody fighting, in spite of exhaustion and the heavy losses caused by intense enemy machine-gun fire, it successfully stormed a wood strongly fortified and stubbornly defended by the enemy.”

The losses of the 51st in July amounted to about 3900.

Both divisions were brought north to take part in the last British offensive commencing in August. In the supplementary despatch of 13th September, 1918, as to the work of certain divisions, Sir Douglas Haig said: “The 51st Division after taking part in both the Somme and Lys battles of March and April, and also in the French offensive south-west of Reims, on August 26th attacked north of the Scarpe, and in five days of successful fighting captured Rœux, Greenland Hill and Plouvain.” The despatch of 21st December, 1918, paragraph 27, deals with the Battle of the Scarpe, 26th August to 3rd September, and shows that at that time the 51st was serving in General Sir Henry Horne’s First Army, along with the Canadian Corps, who fought on their right. The incidents above-mentioned are again dealt with.

The Division’s losses in the Greenland Hill operations amounted to 1145. For their fine work they were congratulated and thanked by the Commander of the Canadian Corps, under whose orders they were in the Scarpe battle.

About the end of August and beginning of September the XXII. Corps took over on the north and south sides of the Scarpe and the 51st Division became part of that Corps. In the beginning of October the Corps moved to the south of the Canadian Corps and took part in what is now the “Battle of Cambrai, 1918,” 8th-9th October, with pursuit to the Selle, 9th-12th October, and on 11th October an advance towards the Selle river was commenced. On the 12th and 13th, the 51st had hard fighting. The attack was renewed on the 19th when there were signs of the enemy retiring, and he was closely pressed. The 51st took a prominent part, until the 29th of October, in various actions which involved bitter fighting. For a most gallant charge against a counter-attack by the enemy, the 6th Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, who had rejoined the 51st in October after two years’ service as Pioneers to the 5th Division, were complimented by the Corps Commander.

Paragraphs 46 and 47 of the despatch deal with the Battle of the Selle River, 17th-25th October, and show that the 51st, as part of the XXII. Corps, First Army, were on the left of the attack on 24th October. The telegraphic despatches stated that the Division had sharp fighting on the 24th and again on the 27th when they repulsed a determined counter-attack near Maing with the bayonet. Their losses during October were 2835.

At the end of October the Division went out of the line to rest, and its very distinguished fighting career was closed.

Scottish regiments were, at various times during the war, in debt to the Midlands of England for drafts of young soldiers, who soon got the _esprit de corps_ of their Scottish units. This debt was, partly at least, repaid when brigades were cut down to three battalions in the beginning of 1918. At that time the 51st gave to the 61st (South Midland) Division, three of its best battalions, the 9th Royal Scots, 5th Gordons, and 8th Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. These formed the 183rd Brigade; and, in his detailed description of the awful struggle during the March Retreat, Battle of St. Quentin, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle gives the greatest possible credit to this brigade. The whole Division did splendid work in the St. Quentin battle, and also in the Lys battles in April. See 61st Division.

After the close of the Lys battles these three battalions were taken from the 61st and, at Arras, joined the 15th, Scottish, New Army, Division, which at Loos had earned a reputation it never lost. In July the 15th, as part of the XXII. Corps, went to the south-west of Soissons, in the French area, and came under the command of General Mangin for the great counter-attack on the German salient, which began on 18th July—the turning-point or day of the War. All three battalions played a notable part in the Buzancy battle on 28th July and following days, and paid their full share of the price for the great distinction earned by the 15th Division on that occasion. No higher compliment could have been paid by an Ally than the erection, by the French 17th Division, of the monument at Buzancy to the fallen of the 15th Division. See paragraph 12 of the despatch of 21st December, 1918, and note in Messrs. Dent’s edition.

After Buzancy the 15th was taken to the Flanders border; its last great fight was past.

The following units of the 51st Division were chosen for the Armies of Occupation: 1/6th Black Watch, 1/4th and 1/5th Gordon Highlanders, and 1/8th Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders.

NOTE.—Since the foregoing account was written, and revised by two officers who served with the Division during the last three years of the war, the most excellent _History of the 51st Division_, by Major F. W. Bewsher (Blackwood and Sons), has been published. The “casualties suffered” have, with kind permission, been mainly taken from Major Bewsher’s work.

52ND (LOWLAND) DIVISION

FIRST LINE

After a long service on coast defence work in Scotland, the Division, in the last half of May, 1915, sailed for the Mediterranean and arrived at Alexandria early in June. Considerable intervals separated the dates of despatch of the various battalions to the Dardanelles, but the Division had practically all landed there before the first week of July closed.

The 156th Brigade, which disembarked 13th-16th June, was in time to take part in the action of 28th June. The Brigade was attached to the 29th Division and came into action on the right of the 87th Brigade.

The main object of the attack was to give the British more elbow room, our situation being still exceedingly cramped.

Sir Ian Hamilton, in his despatch of 26th August, 1915, states that the assault was entrusted to the VIII. Corps, Lieut.-General A. G. Hunter-Weston. The 29th Division on the left had to carry the greatest extent of ground. “On the right of the 87th Brigade the 4th and 7th Royal Scots captured the further two Turkish trenches allotted to them, but further to the east, near the pivotal point, the remainder of the 156th Brigade was unable to get on.” The ground gained was held against “repeated counter-attacks, which for many days and nights afterwards the enemy launched against the trenches they had lost.”

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. Only a few unwounded men reached the opposing trenches, which were 175 yards distant. The 8th Battalion went in about 650 strong, they came out with one officer and 29 other ranks. One man who had reached the enemy position was captured. The ordeal of the battalion, in this its first action, seems to have been as severe as any experienced by an infantry battalion during the war.

The Turkish position at this point, H. 12, was attacked by another brigade soon afterwards. It remained intact, although the attackers suffered a loss of 1700.

In Sir Ian Hamilton’s despatch of 11th December, 1915, he described the battle at Helles on 12th-13th July, and the Suvla Bay fighting in August. The action of 12th-13th July was supplementary to that of 28th June, the object being to push back the Turkish centre.

“On our right the attack was to be entrusted to the French Corps; on the right centre to the 52nd (Lowland) Division. On the 52nd Division’s front the operation was planned to take place in two phases; our right was to attack in the morning, our left in the afternoon.” The 29th Division was to make a diversion on the left. “At 7.35 a.m. after a heavy bombardment, the troops, French and Scottish, dashed out of their trenches, and at once captured two lines of enemy trenches.” The 1st Division of the French Corps pushed forward and carried the whole forward system. “Further to the left the 2nd French Division and our 155th Brigade maintained the two lines of trenches they had gained. But on the left of the 155th Brigade the 4th Battalion King’s Own Scottish Borderers pressed on too eagerly. They not only carried the third line of trenches, but charged on up the hill and beyond the third line, then advanced indeed until they came under the ‘feu-de-barrage’ of the French Artillery. Nothing could live under so cruel a cross fire from friend and foe, so the King’s Own Scottish Borderers were forced to fall back with heavy losses to the second line of enemy trenches which they had captured in the first rush.”