LOOS SALIENT
1916-17
On 25th November the Division took over the La Bassee sector, which
included the famous Givenchy Ridge and Cuinchy Brickstacks. After
about a month it side-stepped to the Cambrin-Hohenzollern Quarries
front of about 5,500 yards, where it remained until the 28th February
1917. All this front had a most evil repute, but so exhausted was the
enemy by the Somme fighting that this four months' trench sojourn
proved the quietest the Division ever experienced, except before the
storm of March 1918, and the casualties would have been far fewer had
it not been for several raids carried out by us.
The machine-guns of the Division were strengthened on 15th December by
the arrival of the 192nd M.G. Company, and on 2nd January 1917
Lt.-Col. G. F. B. Goldney, D.S.O., succeeded Lt.-Col. H. R. S.
Christie as C.R.E., the latter having been nearly a year with the
Division.
On the 1st March the Division took over a 11,000 yards' front
extending north from the Double Crassier at Loos with sectors
Loos--14bis--Hulluch--Hohenzollern, all three brigades being in line
and a brigade of the 21st Division also which came under the command
of G.O.C., 6th Division.
March and the first portion of April were notable for raids and
counter-raids, and for considerable artillery and trench-mortar
activity, which gave place to more or less continuous fighting
consequent on the withdrawal of the enemy opposite the right of the
Division after the successful attack by the Canadians at Vimy.
Notice was received on the morning of the 13th April that a
withdrawal was contemplated by the enemy opposite part of the
Divisional front. The right section of the front was at that time held
by the 16th Infantry Brigade, with the 2nd York and Lancaster Regiment
on its right. On the 13th April the withdrawal commenced, the enemy
being so closely followed up by the York and Lancaster Regiment that
by 6.20 p.m. the brigade was able to report the Railway Triangle in
our occupation, and the whole of the battalion in the enemy's
trenches. Our troops were into the enemy's dug-outs before the candles
left by them had burnt out.
The policy laid down for the Division was that the enemy was to be
closely followed up wherever he fell back, but that our troops were
not to be committed to a serious engagement. In accordance with these
instructions the enemy's trenches were subjected to heavy bombardment,
with pauses during which patrols were sent forward and occupied as
much ground as they could. This policy was maintained for four days,
during which the 16th Infantry Brigade pressed the enemy with such
vigour, within the limits allowed to it, that he was evidently rushed
rather farther back than had been his intention, and began to become
apprehensive as to his hold on Hill 70. The opposition stiffened on
the 15th April, and on the 16th a counter-attack drove the 1st The
Buffs back slightly, but was unsuccessful against the 8th Bedfordshire
Regiment on the right. An advanced post of the latter battalion put up
a very fine defence and maintained its position. A further attack on
this battalion on the following day again failed to shake the defence.
On the 16th April a systematic bombardment of the trenches on Hill 70
was commenced, and authority was given for a slightly greater
employment of force. Attacks on the 18th and 19th April, by the 1st
K.S.L.I. and the 8th Bedfordshire Regiment, gained some ground and
gave us between forty and fifty prisoners.
By this time continuous fighting, under very trying weather
conditions, had exhausted the 16th Infantry Brigade. In order to
maintain the pressure it became necessary to withdraw battalions from
the front of the other brigades and to put them straight in on the
offensive front, replacing them by the battalions withdrawn from that
front.
An attack by the 14th D.L.I. on the 21st April in conjunction with the
left of the 46th Division, who by this time had relieved the 24th on
the right of the 6th Division, yielded thirty-five prisoners and two
machine-guns, and disposed of a strong machine-gun nest on the Double
Crassier Railway which had been holding up our right. Two
counter-attacks were repelled, and on the 22nd April the 14th D.L.I.
and the 11th Essex Regiment delivered a combined attack. The 14th
D.L.I. secured the whole of their objective, with forty-six prisoners
and three machine-guns, but the 11th Essex Regiment was unable to gain
any ground. The 46th Division had been prevented by uncut wire from
co-operating in the attack, with the result that the 14th D.L.I.,
after enduring a very heavy bombardment with exemplary determination,
were eventually sniped and machine-gunned out of the captured line
from the houses on their right. Eventually the position stabilized
itself, with the enemy in possession of Nash Alley.
During ten days the Division had been engaged in continuous fighting
on the front of one brigade, whilst holding with the other two a front
of approximately 7,000 yards. Four battalions from other brigades, in
addition to its own four, had passed through the hands of the 16th
Infantry Brigade which was conducting the fighting. Battalions
relieved from the fighting front one night were put straight into the
line elsewhere on the following night, and battalions which had
already done a long continuous tour in the trenches were relieved one
night, put into the fighting front on the following night, and
twenty-four hours later had to deliver an attack. The enemy, concerned
about the fate of Hill 70, concentrated a very formidable
artillery on the narrow front involved, and the bombardments and
barrages on the front of attack were of exceptional severity. The
extent to which the Division was stretched on the rest of its front is
exemplified by two incidents. On one occasion an enemy raid penetrated
both our front and support lines without being detected or meeting
anyone, and came upon our reserve line by chance at the only place on
the front of the brigade concerned where there was one company in that
line. At another part of the front it was found, when normal
conditions were restored, that in an abandoned part of our front line
between two posts, the enemy had actually made himself so much at home
that he had established a small dump of rations and bombs.
For the manner in which the Division had followed up and pressed the
enemy withdrawal it received the thanks of the Commander-in-Chief.
On the 26th June 1917 the 46th Division was engaged on our right in
active operations in the outskirts of Lens. The 2nd Sherwood Foresters
and the 9th Norfolk Regiment were placed at the disposal of the 46th
Division for these operations. The 9th Norfolk Regiment was not
actively engaged, but the 2nd Sherwood Foresters, used in the later
stages of the attack, fought with great gallantry and suffered fairly
heavily.
On the 25th July the Division was relieved after a continuous tour in
the Loos front of just under five months--a period of particularly
bitter and severe trench warfare. Trench-mortaring was continuous on
both sides on the greater part of the front held, and shelling heavy.
The artillery suffered no less severely than the infantry, owing to
the very restricted choice of positions and the advantages of the
observation enjoyed by the enemy. Raids and counter-raids were
numerous. An analysis of the diary shows that during the six months
from the end of January to the end of July the Division carried out
30 raids, of which 13 were successful in obtaining their objective
and securing prisoners (total for the 13 raids: 54), 11 secured their
objective but failed to yield any prisoners, and only 6 definitely
failed. During the same period the enemy attempted 21 raids, of which
only 4 succeeded in taking prisoners, 5 entered our trenches without
securing any prisoners, and 12 were entire failures. Three of the
enemy's attempted raids yielded us prisoners, and 4 yielded
identifications. The low average of prisoners taken by us in
successful raids is attributable to two causes--first the
extraordinary precautions taken by the enemy in the latter part of the
period to avoid losing prisoners by evacuating his trenches on the
slightest alarm or remaining in his dug-outs, and secondly the
fierceness engendered in our troops by the severity of the
bombardment, and particularly of the trench-mortaring to which they
were normally subjected.
A very successful battalion raid by the 1st The Buffs on the 24th
June, which yielded 15 prisoners, might have made a better showing if
it had not followed closely on the receipt of the mail containing
accounts of an enemy bombing raid on Folkestone.
It is invidious to differentiate among so many carefully prepared and
gallantly executed enterprises, but a reference to the successful
battalion raid of the 11th Essex Regiment on the 24th March, to the
raid carried out by the 14th D.L.I. on the 15th June, in the early
morning which caught the Germans at breakfast, and particularly to the
combined raid by the 2nd D.L.I. and the 11th Essex Regiment on the
28th June, will perhaps be forgiven. The latter was an exceptionally
fine performance. It was carried out in connection with the operations
of the 46th Division already referred to, by one company from each of
the two battalions. Everything possible had been done beforehand to
induce the enemy to expect attack on the front of the Division, yet
these two companies succeeded in establishing and maintaining
themselves for one hour in the enemy's line, though constantly
counter-attacked. They inflicted very heavy casualties on the enemy,
who counter-attacked both over the open and by bombing along the
trenches. It was on this occasion that 2/Lieut. F. B. Wearne, late
11th Essex Regiment, won the V.C. Mention ought also to be made of the
very gallant repulse of an enemy raid by the 1st K.S.L.I. and the 1st
The Buffs on the 7th July. In one post of the 1st K.S.L.I. one wounded
Lewis gunner, the only survivor of his post from the enemy
bombardment, kept his gun in action and beat off the raiders.
On the 25th July the Division was relieved by the Canadians, with a
view to an attack by the latter on Hill 70, and withdrew into rest in
the Monchy Breton area with Divisional Headquarters at Ourton.
A feature of this period of rest was the very successful two-day rifle
meeting, held on the Monchy-Breton Range.
During the month's rest out of the line Major-Gen. Ross left the
Division, being succeeded in command by Major-Gen. T. O. Marden,
C.M.G., on the 19th August, and Brig.-Gen. Feetham, C.B., C.M.G., left
the 71st Infantry Brigade to assume command of the 39th Division, in
command of which he was killed in March 1918.
From the 31st July to the 5th August the 1st Leicestershire Regiment
and 9th Norfolk Regiment were away from the Division, lent to the 57th
Division to assist in a relief at the time of the gas shelling of
Armentieres.
On the 24th to the 27th August the Division was relieving the
Canadians on the Hill 70 front. The month spent in that sector was one
of hard work for all ranks consolidating the newly won position, but
was without important incident.
On the 24th September the Division side-stepped into the Cite St.
Emile sector just north of Lens, and commenced preparations for an
attack north of Lens, to be carried out in conjunction with the
projected attack by the Canadian Corps on Sallaumines Hill. This
project was, however, abandoned, and on the 23rd October the
Division was withdrawn into rest in the St. Hilaire area, west of
Lillers.
Six days later it commenced its march south to the Riencourt area, to
join the Third Army for the Battle of Cambrai.
The 11th Leicesters (Pioneers) had gone north to the II Corps, to work
on light railway construction near Dickebusch on 2nd July 1917. Their
absence was much felt by the Division, and in view of the approaching
operations they were welcomed back on 6th November, when they brought
with them a letter from G.O.C., II Corps (Lt.-Gen. Jacob)
congratulating them on their excellent work.
Before leaving the subject of the tour of the Division in the
Loos-Lens front, some reference ought to be made to the successes won
during that period by the Division in horse shows. After practically
sweeping the board in all events at the I Corps show for which it was
eligible to enter, the Division secured seven first and eight second
prizes at the First Army show, as well as the cup for the best R.A.
turn-out presented by G.O.C., R.A., First Army, and also that for the
best R.E. turn-out, presented by the C.E., First Army.
The Divisional Ammunition Column secured prizes for the two best teams
of mules, the best single mule, and the best light draught horse.