Leaving La Panne on Sept. 23rd, 1917, the battalion spent the next
ten days in a most enjoyable march. Trekking by easy stages through
rich agricultural country in perfect harvest weather, the men usually
found good billets and good fare. St. Omer was passed on the 30th and
on Oct. 3rd the battalion found itself once more near Poperinghe on
the threshold of the Salient. The following day the battalion set off
for the line and had a long and trying march. Moving from Poperinghe
to Vlamertinghe in the morning, later in the day they again pushed
on across the Canal and bivouacked at what had once been Spree farm,
where the road came to an end in swamps that could only be crossed on
duckboards. Next day they took over the line north of Zonnebeke from
the New Zealanders.
The advance associated with the name of Passchendaele had been begun
most successfully in July and August, when British troops under
Major-General Rawlinson, with Belgians on their left, had attacked from
the old trenches by the Yser canal and gained possession of the lower
spurs in front of them. To complete the mastery of the topmost ridge
the attack was continued through the autumn, when rain had turned the
whole country into swamp. How far this perseverance and the enormous
loss of life it entailed were justified by the military exigencies
it must be left to later historians to decide, but certainly the
conditions of the front line were not fully realised by commanders
behind.
The high ground that separates Ypres from the main plain of Belgium
resembles an enormous sponge. Even in hot summer weather bogs and ponds
are found upon its summit, while numerous swampy streamlets wander
down its sides. In October many stretches were impassable except by
wooden tracks laid on brushwood which were only constructed with the
greatest danger and difficulty. Bombarded for three and a half long
years, over all this huge area the shell-craters nearly touched each
other. Whole villages were entirely wiped out; of fine chateaux not a
trace remained; roads were completely obliterated; and wide woodlands
were only marked by misshapen stumps two or three feet high. With the
enemy on higher ground, all preparations and movements of troops for an
attack had to be made in the darkness, and a single false step off the
prepared track meant loss of life or guns or rations.
Right in the centre of this desolation the ⅙th held the line for six
days, soaked with rain, standing in water and suffering all kinds of
discomfort, yet only two men went sick. A great attack had been planned
for October 9th in which the ⅙th Batt. was to support the 146th (West
Yorks.) Brigade. Late in the night a battery commander arrived at the
battalion headquarters dead beat. Moving at all possible speed he
had only just reached his position and half his guns had been bogged
on the way; and many infantry battalions, picking their way through
bottomless swamps in the dark, were quite unable to reach their
jumping-off lines at the allotted time. Under such circumstances a
sweeping success was impossible; many gallant deeds were done, a few
pill-boxes were taken, and a party under Captain Buxton, M.C., seized
and held some valuable ground; but it is doubtful if the results of
the day were worth the very heavy price. The ⅙th was relieved by the
Canadians the following day, and on coming out was highly congratulated
by the Army and Corps commanders on the part it had played. Whatever
may be the military verdict on the Passchendaele battle, it is certain
that no other incident in the war tested so thoroughly the grit and
fighting qualities of the British soldier and no victories were won
in the face of greater difficulties; the ⅙th Duke of Wellington’s is
justly proud of having taken a worthy part in this struggle.
The battalion went out for a short rest in the neighbourhood of
Winnezeele and during this period Major-General E. M. Perceval, C.B.,
D.S.O., relinquished the command of the Division, which he had held for
over three years and returned home to command the 68th Division on the
East Coast. He was succeeded by Major-General N. J. G. Cameron, C.B.,
D.S.O., of the Cameron Highlanders. General Perceval had been very
popular throughout the Division, but like General Baldock before him he
was a gunner, and the infantry thought it only fair that an infantryman
had now been selected for the command.
A fortnight later the battalion returned to the very tip of the
salient. This time its line lay more to the south where the summit
ridge had already been captured: and from their trenches at Broodseinde
could look far down into the Belgian plain. The approaches again were
very difficult and the men had to lay some miles of duckboards in the
deep mud before they could be said to possess any communications at
all. Soon after going in, the battalion lost a very promising young
officer in 2nd Lieut. Rupert Atkinson, of Settle.
Christmas was spent in these desolate surroundings; the battalion
was in the front line on that festive day, standing in deep mud and
subsisting on such rations as had not been bogged on the long journey
from Belgian Battery Corner. On Boxing Day the battalion had to deplore
the loss of Sergeant Cecil Rhodes, M.M., who was killed by a shell.
In the very early days he had made a great reputation as a fearless
bomber; always cheerful himself, his gift of humour in the most
disheartening circumstances was a real asset to the battalion, and he
had won the lasting affection of both officers and men.