to the relief of Gaza, and other facts which compelled certain
withdrawals to be undertaken.
In paragraph 6 occurs the sentence, “Nevertheless, though tired
and ill-supplied with water the 53rd and 54th Divisions now placed
under the G.O.C. 53rd remained throughout the day (27th) staunch and
cheerful and perfectly capable of repulsing with heavy losses to the
enemy any Turkish counter-attacks.”
The Turks had been very strongly reinforced, and although a strong
counter-attack at 4 p.m. was shattered it was decided to retire to
the west of the Wadi Ghuzze. This was carried out during the night.
At the close of paragraph 7 Sir A. Murray said: “The troops engaged,
both cavalry, camelry and infantry, especially the 53rd Division
and the brigade of the 54th, which had not been seriously in action
since the evacuation of Suvla Bay at the end of 1915, fought with the
utmost gallantry and endurance and showed to the full the splendid
fighting qualities which they possess.”
Paragraph 8 deals with the preparations for a second attack on the
Gaza positions. For that operation the possession of the Wadi Ghuzze
was necessary, so that the effort of 26th-27th March was not wasted.
The 17th April was the day fixed for the beginning of the second
attack. In his despatch Sir A. Murray said, paragraph 9, that the
“53rd Division, under the command of Major-General S. F. Mott, was
to remain in position just north of the Wadi Ghuzze between the sea
and the Gaza-Khan-Yunus road, but to carry out strong reconnaissances
northward along the coast.”
In the final stage of the attack “the 53rd Division was to attack
the enemy’s trenches in the sand-dunes south-west and west of Gaza,
the line Sampson Ridge-Sheikh Ajlin being its first objective.” The
Division advanced at 7.15 a.m. on the 19th; “though meeting with
considerable opposition, they gradually worked up to Sampson Ridge
which was carried by a brigade early in the afternoon. This enabled
another brigade to carry the high ground between this position and
the coast with little opposition—and the first objective of the
Division was attained.”
At nightfall “the 53rd Division held the Sampson Ridge-Sheikh
Ajlin line,” but other parts of the force had not attained their
objectives, casualties had been very heavy, about 7000, and the
attack was abandoned. The ground gained was kept and consolidated.
(See also 52nd and 54th Divisions.)
Sir E. Allenby assumed command of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force
in June 1917, and the successful operations which began with the
capture of Beersheba on 31st October, and ended with the surrender
of Jerusalem on 9th December, are detailed in his despatch of 16th
December, 1917.
The 53rd Division was, in these operations, on the right of the line.
On 27th October the Turks attacked a line of outposts; paragraph
6: “The gallant resistance made by the Yeomanry enabled the 53rd
(Welsh) Division to come up in time, and on their advance the Turks
withdrew.” On the same date the British bombardment of the Gaza
defences commenced.
Paragraph 10, 1st November: The 53rd (Welsh) Division after a long
march took up a position from six miles north of Beersheba to
Muweileh. Between the 1st and 5th November the Division had sometimes
heavy fighting.
Paragraph 11: “The 53rd (Welsh) Division had again had very severe
fighting on the 6th. Their attack at dawn on Tel el Khuweilfeh
was successful, and though they were driven off a hill by a
counter-attack, they retook it and captured another hill, which much
improved their position. The Turkish losses in this area were very
heavy indeed, and the stubborn fighting of the 53rd Division, the
Imperial Camel Corps and part of the mounted troops during 2nd to 6th
November drew in and exhausted the Turkish reserves, and paved the
way for the success of the attack on Sheria. The 53rd Division took
several hundred prisoners and some guns during this fighting.”
The various actions 27th October to 7th November are now designated
the “Third Battle of Gaza.”
Paragraph 21: An attack on the Jerusalem defences was fixed for 8th
December, the 53rd Division marched up the Hebron-Jerusalem road
and met little opposition from the enemy. Heavy rains on the 7th
and following days delayed the column but on the 9th “Welsh troops
occupied a position east of Jerusalem across the Jericho road,” the
60th Division being to the north of the city. At noon the city was
surrendered. (See also 60th Division.)
In Sir E. Allenby’s second despatch dated 18th September, 1918, he
deals with the operations undertaken to provide more effectively for
the security of Jerusalem and of Jaffa (see 52nd Division). The XX.
Corps, including the 53rd and 60th Divisions, had been ordered to
make an advance on a twelve-mile front to a depth of six miles north
of Jerusalem, but in the meantime “the enemy attacked with great
determination astride the Jerusalem-Nablus-Sechem road,” on December
26th-27th. The 60th was heavily engaged but beat off the enemy
with loss. Paragraph 5: “In the meantime the enemy had delivered
attacks against various points held by the 53rd Division east of
Jerusalem. On the extreme right at Kh. Deir Ibn Obeid a company of
Middlesex troops was surrounded by 700 Turks, supported by mountain
artillery. Although without artillery support, it offered a most
gallant resistance, holding out till relief came on the morning of
the 28th. None of the other attacks on this division’s front were any
more successful.” “By the evening of December 30th the XX. Corps had
advanced on a front of twelve miles to a depth varying from six miles
on the right to three miles on the left. This advance had to overcome
not only a determined and obstinate resistance, but great natural
difficulties as well, which had to be overcome before guns could be
brought up to support the infantry.” 750 prisoners were taken, and
1000 Turkish dead were buried. The fighting 26th-30th December is now
designated the “Defence of Jerusalem.”
The despatch, paragraph 7, shows that the 60th and 53rd Divisions
were engaged in the operations leading to the capture of Jericho,
20th-21st February, 1918.
On 9th, 10th and 11th March further operations were undertaken in
which the fighting was of a bitter character. Paragraph 8: On the 9th
“the 53rd Division on the right had met with considerable opposition
and great natural difficulties especially on the extreme right and
at Tell-Asur, a conspicuous landmark among a mass of high hills.
The importance attached to it by the enemy was shown by the number
of determined efforts he made to recapture it, all of which were
repulsed.” Progress continued on the 10th and 11th.
In his third despatch, dated 31st October, Sir E. Allenby describes
his final operations, now designated “The Battles of Megiddo,” which
led to the armistice with Turkey. The main attack was on the coastal
plain, that is on the left of the line, the 53rd Division and the
10th Division to make an advance on the right of the line some twelve
hours later.
Paragraph 13: “During the night of September 18th-19th the XX.
Corps swung forward its right on the east of the Bireh-Nablus road.
The 53rd Division descended into the basin at the head of the Wadi
Samieh, captured Kh. Jibeit, El Mugheir and the ridge on the far
side of the basin and all its objectives with the exception of one
hill, Kh. Abu Malul. Considerable opposition was encountered and
hand-to-hand fighting took place in which over 400 prisoners were
taken.”
Paragraph 16: On the morning of the 19th “I ordered the XX. Corps
to advance that night on Nablus.” The enemy had long expected such
an attack and his defences were strong and “the task of the Corps
was a difficult one. The enemy in this portion of the field was
not disorganised and was able to oppose a stout resistance to the
advance. The country is broken and rugged, demanding great physical
exertion on the part of the troops and preventing the artillery
keeping pace with the infantry. Nevertheless good progress was made
on the night of September 19th, and during the following day. The
53rd Division captured Kh. Abu Malul and advanced their line in the
centre. On their right Khan Jibeit was heavily counter-attacked on
the morning of September 20th. The Turks succeeded in regaining the
hill but were driven off again after a sharp fight.” By the evening
of the 21st the XX. Corps had reached a line which extended to the
N.E. of Nablus. After that date the fighting operations were mainly
within the sphere of the cavalry and armoured cars, but the infantry
had some severe marching and other hardships. On 31st October the
Armistice with Turkey came into force.
The Division was unfortunate in losing several of its original units
before it went abroad, the 1/4th Royal Welsh Fusiliers, 1/5th and
1/6th Cheshire Regiment and 1/1st, 1/2nd and 1/3rd Monmouth Regiment
having been taken to the Western front early in the war. The 1/4th
and 1/5th Welsh Regiment, originally Army Troops, the 1/4th Royal
Sussex, 2/4th Royal West Surrey, 2/4th Royal West Kent and 2/10th
Middlesex took the place of the units which had left the Division. In
the despatch of 14th January, 1915, Sir John French gave mention to
several officers and men of the 2nd Monmouth Regiment for good work
at the First Battle of Ypres, and in his despatch of 31st May, 1915,
officers and men of the 1/5th Cheshire and 1/2nd and 1/3rd Monmouth
gained mention. The 1/1st Monmouth was Pioneer battalion to the 46th
(North Midland) Division and shared its glory on 29th September,
1918, when they crossed the St. Quentin canal, captured Bellenglise
and broke the Hindenburg line.
The 1/4th Royal Welsh Fusiliers served as Pioneers to the 47th
Division and during the Retreat, March 1918, did outstanding work,
particularly on the 24th when acting as rearguard.
The 6th Cheshire is mentioned by Sir A. Conan Doyle, volume iv. p.
146, as in a Territorial brigade of the 39th Division which on 31st
July, 1917, in the Third Battle of Ypres, made an attack which was
“extraordinarily gallant,” “greater constancy has seldom been seen.”
The same battalion was in the awful fighting on the Aisne at the end
of May 1918, when three divisions of the IX. Corps were destroyed.
An account of the battle is to be found in the _History of the 25th
Division_ (Harrison).
As stated under the 52nd, the divisions in Palestine sent battalions
to France to reinforce the army there after the losses incurred by
it in the great German offensive. The 1/4th Cheshire, 1/1st Hereford
and 1/4th Sussex were put into the 34th Division and fought with it
in the great battle south of Soissons, July 1918, when Marshal Foch
crushed in the sides of the salient between the Aisne and the Marne.
The following units, either belonging to the 53rd Division, or
which had served with it, were chosen for the Army of Occupation on
the Western Front: 1/4th and 1/6th Cheshire Regiment, 2/4th Royal
West Surrey and 1/4th Sussex Regiment. The 1/6th Welsh Regiment,
originally Army Troops, was also selected.
54TH (EAST ANGLIAN) DIVISION
FIRST LINE
In his despatch of 11th December 1915, dealing with the operations
at Suvla Bay, Gallipoli, Sir Ian Hamilton said: “The 54th Division,
infantry only, arrived and were disembarked on August 11th and placed
in reserve. On the following day, August 12th, I proposed that the
54th Division should make a night-march in order to attack, at dawn
on the 13th, the heights Kavak Tepe-Teke Tepe.” “That afternoon
the 163rd Brigade moved off and in spite of serious opposition
established itself about the A of Anafarta in difficult and enclosed
country. In the course of the fight, creditable in all respects to
the 163rd Brigade, there happened a very mysterious thing. The 1/5th
Norfolks were on the right of the line and found themselves for a
moment less strongly opposed than the rest of the brigade, Against
the yielding forces of the enemy Colonel Sir H. Beauchamp, a bold,
self-confident officer, eagerly pressed forward, followed by the
best part of the battalion. The fighting grew hotter, and the ground
became more wooded and broken. At this stage many men were wounded or
grew exhausted with thirst. These found their way back to camp during
the night. But the colonel, with 16 officers and 250 men, still kept
pushing on, driving the enemy before him. Amongst these ardent souls
was part of a fine company enlisted from the King’s Sandringham
estates. Nothing more was ever seen or heard of any of them. They
charged into the forest and were lost to sight and sound. Not one of
them ever came back.”
Owing to representations by the Corps Commander the night march and
projected attack on the 13th were abandoned.
The 162nd Brigade of the 54th Division were in support in an attack
on 15th August, and on the 21st, the “Battle of Scimitar Hill,” “the
53rd and 54th were to hold the enemy from Sulajik to Kiretch Tepe
Sirt, while the 29th Division and the 11th Division stormed Ismail
Oglu Tepe.” These attacks met with little success. During the ensuing
four months the Suvla Force held on to the ground it had won, but
with ever-increasing difficulty, as sickness and casualties had sadly
thinned its ranks.
On the night of the 19th-20th December, 1915, the evacuation from
Suvla and Anzac was completed.
The 54th Division sailed for Egypt and down to the close of the war
remained part of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force. Shortly after
landing in Egypt part of the Division was employed as Lines of
Communication troops for the column working on the western frontier.
(See Sir J. G. Maxwell’s despatch of 1st March, 1916.)
When Sir A. Murray proceeded to press back the Turks in Palestine the
54th Division was employed—quotations from the despatch of 28th June,
1917, as to the action of 26th-27th March, 1917, the “First Battle
of Gaza,” are given under the 53rd Division.
In the despatch of 28th June, 1917, as to the “Second Battle of
Gaza,” paragraph 9, Sir A. Murray stated that on 17th April,
1917, the 54th and 52nd “were to seize and occupy the line
Sheik-Abbas-Mansura-Kurd Hill,” that line was taken by 7 a.m.
On the 19th these two divisions were to attack the Ali Muntar group
of works south of Gaza, the 54th pivoting on the right of the 52nd;
unfortunately the latter division was held up, see 52nd Division.
“Meanwhile the 54th Division with the Imperial Camel Corps had
advanced steadily under fire on the right of the 52nd Division. Its
left brigade was in advance of the right of the rear brigade of the
52nd Division, and thus exposed to a heavy enfilade fire from the
direction of Ali Muntar. At 9.30 a.m. the left of this brigade was
heavily counter-attacked, but the enemy were repulsed by machine-gun
fire. On the right of this brigade another brigade fought its way
forward against the enemy works between Gaza and Khirbet Sihan.”
These were entered by the Camel Corps. The two brigades, “in spite
of most strenuous and gallant efforts to advance, were repeatedly
checked by very heavy fire from this front. Towards noon the left of
the right brigade was forced back by a determined counter-attack from
the north-east,” but with the assistance of the third brigade it was
able to regain the ground lost.
At 3 p.m.: “Reports received from the 54th Division stated that the
situation was satisfactory, and that no help was required to enable
the ground gained to be held until further progress by the 52nd
should render practicable a renewal of the advance. I should like to
state here my appreciation of the great skill with which General Hare
handled his fine Division throughout the day.” A counter-attack by
the Turks at 3.30 p.m. “was shattered.” The attack was not pressed
further, but the ground gained was consolidated.
Sir E. Allenby took command of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force at
the end of June, 1917, and his first despatch, that of 16th December,
1917, shows that in the “Third Battle of Gaza” his main attack on
the Gaza-Beersheba line, 27th October-7th November, was from the
British right (see 53rd and 60th Divisions), but it was essential to
compel the enemy to throw in his reserves at the western end of the
line and, to ensure that, the 52nd and 54th Divisions on 2nd and 3rd
November assaulted the positions guarding Gaza on the south and west.
On the 3rd the 54th after stiff fighting captured several strongly
fortified positions, notably the El Arish redoubt, taken by the 1/4th
and 1/5th Norfolks, the Rafa redoubt and other posts, taken by the
1/5th and 1/6th Essex, while other battalions of the Division seized
the Belah trenches and Turtle Hill. (See Dane’s _British Campaigns in
the Nearer East_, Hodder and Stoughton, vol. ii. p. 91.) Very heavy
counter-attacks to recapture these positions, which were of great
importance, were launched by the Turks but these were repulsed with
heavy loss to the enemy.
Between the 3rd and 6th the hardest fighting took place east of Gaza,
and the enemy’s line was broken there. The despatch, paragraph 12,
notes that “East Anglian troops on the left also found at dawn” (on
the 7th) “that the enemy had retired during the night, and early in
the morning the main force occupied the northern and eastern defences
of Gaza.”
The 54th took part in the pursuit and the British advance to the line
Jaffa-Jerusalem.
Sir E. Allenby’s second despatch, that of 18th September, 1918,
shows that the 54th was, along with the 52nd, in the XXI. Corps to
which was given the task of increasing the distance between Joppa,
or Jaffa, and the enemy. This was duly accomplished on 21st and 22nd
December, 1917, in what is now designated the “Battle of Jaffa” (see
also 52nd Division). Paragraph 4 of the despatch states that “on the
morning of 22nd December, the 54th Division on the right drove the
enemy from the orchards which surround Mulebbis and captured the
villages of Rantieh and Fejja. On the left the 52nd reached all their
objectives.”
Paragraph 8 of the despatch shows that early in March the XXI. Corps
made a further advance. The 54th captured five villages and some
prisoners, and, paragraph 16, the Corps again moved forward, 9th to
11th April, when other positions were taken and held against the
heavy counter-attacks in which the enemy’s losses were considerable,
“over 300 of his dead being counted”.
In his last despatch, that of 31st October, 1918, Sir E. Allenby
described how his infantry broke through the Turkish lines and opened
the gate for the cavalry and armoured cars.
Paragraph 15: “The attack on the coastal plain on the morning of
September 19th was attended with complete success. On the right, in
the foothills, the French Tirailleurs and the Armenians of the Légion
d’Orient advanced with great dash.” “On their left the 54th Division
stormed Kefr Kasim village and wood and the foothills overlooking the
railway from Ras El Ain to Jiljulieh. North of Kefr Kasim the advance
was checked for a time at Sivri Tepe, but the enemy’s resistance was
quickly overcome and the remaining hills south of the Wadi Kanah
captured.” “The 3rd, Lahore, Division pressed on eastwards into the
foothills, near Hableh, joining hands with the 54th Division north
of the Wadi Kanah.” Later the 7th, Meerut, 3rd, Lahore, and 54th
Divisions advanced further in an easterly direction.
After this the infantry of the XXI. Corps were never seriously
opposed but they had many most severe marches during the next three
weeks.
Like its neighbour in the East, the 53rd, the 54th Division lost
some good battalions before it went abroad as a division. The policy
pursued in 1914 and first half of 1915 of “picking the eyes out of”
Territorial divisions has been severely animadverted upon, by, among
others, Sir Ian Hamilton, and no one was better qualified than he was
to judge of the wisdom or folly of this proceeding.
The 1st Hertfordshire Regiment, the 1st Cambridgeshire Regiment and
the 4th Suffolk Regiment, originally units of the 54th Division,
went early to France. The Hertfordshire battalion was mentioned in
Sir John French’s despatch of 20th November, 1914, as among the
territorial battalions which took part in the First Battle of Ypres
(see 56th Division). The despatch of 2nd February 1915, paragraph
4, shows that the 4th Suffolk Regiment was part of a force making a
counter-attack near Givenchy on 20th December, 1914. “About 5 p.m.
a gallant attack by the 1st Manchester Regiment and one company 4th
Suffolk Regiment had captured Givenchy, and had cleared the enemy out
of two lines of trenches to the north-east.”
In the despatch of 15th June, 1915, as to the Second Battle of Ypres,
22nd April to 25th May, the great gas attack, the Commander-in-Chief,
quoting Sir Herbert Plumer, gives some examples of “individual
gallantry,” among these he mentions the visit by a patrol, two
officers and one N.C.O. of the 1st Cambridgeshire to a German trench,
350 yards away. The adventurous party, with great good fortune, got
safely back to their own trench. Officers and men of these units were
mentioned by Sir John French.
The places of these three battalions in the 54th Division were taken
by the 1/10th and 1/11th County of London Regiment from the 56th
Division and the 1/8th Hampshire, a Wessex battalion.
Sir A. Conan Doyle, volume iv. p. 198, draws attention to the fine
work of the 33rd Division in the Third Battle of Ypres on 26th
September, 1917, and among other battalions highly spoken of is
the 4th Suffolks. In the same volume, p. 146, he refers to the 1st
Hertfordshire and 1st Cambridgeshire, then both in the 39th Division,
in terms of praise, for their conduct in the same battle on 31st
July. In volume v. p. 117, he mentions the 1st Hertfordshire, 39th
Division, as retaking “in very gallant fashion,” on 22nd March,
1918, a village which had been lost, and says the battalion had
greatly distinguished itself at St. Julien and elsewhere. In volume
vi. he refers to the gallantry and steadiness of that battalion in
connection with the action about Trescault, 18th September, 1918, and
in the same volume, pp. 33, 62 and 287, he gives great credit to the
1st Cambridgeshire for fine conduct on three occasions in 1918, when
serving with the 12th Division.
These words of praise mean much, as throughout the work individual
battalions are not often mentioned.
The following units which had either belonged originally to the 54th
or had fought with it were chosen for the Armies of Occupation: The
Rhine, 1/4th Suffolk Regiment; Egypt and Palestine, 1/4th Norfolk
Regiment, 1/5th Suffolk Regiment, 1/4th, 1/5th and 1/7th Essex
Regiment, 1/4th Northamptonshire Regiment and 1/10th London Regiment.
55TH (WEST LANCASHIRE) DIVISION
FIRST LINE
As in the case of some other good divisions, the 55th, as a unit,
suffered because its individual battalions were early ready and
eager to go to France. Had it been otherwise the history of the
Division would have been at least one year longer. The 10th Liverpool
Regiment went to France in October 1914, and the other battalions
followed during the succeeding six months. For the most part the
battalions were, on landing, attached to Regular brigades. The
5th Royal Lancaster, 5th, 7th and 9th Liverpool, and 5th South
Lancashire all bore a conspicuous part in the Second Battle of Ypres,
now “The Battles of Ypres, 1915,” the gas attack, April and May
1915, and nobly helped to stem the German flood; or in the battles
of Richebourg-St.-Vaast-Festubert, 9th-16th May, 1915. The North
Lancashire Brigade was attached to the 51st, Highland, Division and
played a prominent part in that division’s first battle on 15th-16th
June. The 4th Loyal North Lancashire, 4th Royal Lancaster and 8th
Liverpool all fought with distinction in that engagement and suffered
very heavy losses. On the same day, 16th June, the 10th Liverpool,
now a band of veteran soldiers, was employed with the 3rd Division
in an attack at Hooge and made a fine, almost over-eager, advance.
Their losses are said by Sir A. Conan Doyle to have exceeded 400.
The Division was represented in the Loos battle, September 1915, by
the 9th Liverpool.