YPRES SALIENT AGAIN
1918
On the 30th March, whilst in rest in the neighbourhood of Steenvoorde,
the Division had the honour of a visit from His Majesty the King.
Representative survivors of all ranks from the recent fighting were
drawn up in the square and were inspected by His Majesty, who spoke
most graciously to every individual, questioning all as to their
experiences during the fighting, and thanking them for and
congratulating them on their services.
At the beginning of April the 16th and 18th Infantry Brigades took
over the front from Broodseinde southwards to Polygon Wood, coming
under the XXII Corps (Lt.-Gen. Sir A. Godley).
The general situation now was that the Flanders front was held by
tired and decimated Divisions withdrawn from the big battle in the
south. These had been brought up to a respectable strength by drafts
from all sources--wounded men belonging to other formations, R.A.S.C.,
Labour Battalions, etc., many of whom had received no training in
infantry weapons or methods of fighting. Officers and men were new to
each other, and there was no chance to train as the whole of every
Division was in trenches.
Against these forces the Germans now opened a determined offensive
from Zandvoorde southwards.
On the 13th April, as a result of the German successes on the Lys, the
71st Infantry Brigade, which was in reserve, had to be rushed off to
join the 49th Division on the Neuve Eglise front. It returned to the
Division on the 26th April after a pretty rough time, during which
it suffered considerable casualties (about 750), but earned great
praise. A counter-attack delivered by the 9th Norfolk Regiment was a
particularly creditable incident in this period.
Otherwise the first fortnight in the Salient was without special
incident. On the 16th April, in consequence of the progress made by
the enemy farther to the south, the Salient was reduced in accordance
with plan, and the line withdrawn to the battle zone, where an
advanced force was left out in a line of detached pill-boxes and
works. The enemy followed up cautiously in the afternoon, but the
garrisons of the line of posts by lying low were able in several cases
to catch parties unawares, and a fair number of casualties were
inflicted. One party of twenty-five in particular was annihilated.
On the 25th April the enemy attacked and captured Kemmel Village and
Hill from the French. This decided the Higher Command to withdraw the
advanced force, and this was successfully carried out on the night of
the 26/27th to the line West end of Zillebeke Lake-White Chateau.
Incessant work on the new defences, and heavy shelling, particularly
gas shelling of Ypres, were the only incidents for some time on the
actual front of the Division, though heavy attacks on the 29th April
on the Division on the right, and the enemy's unsuccessful attack on
Ridgewood on the 8th May, kept it on the alert. The Division was on
the edge of the battle, and stood to on several occasions for an
attack on its own front.
On the 11th to the 14th May the Division side-slipped to the south in
relief of the 19th Division, thus coming next door to the 14th French
Division, and passing to II Corps (Lt.-Gen. Sir C. Jacob). On the 28th
May the enemy attacked our neighbours on the right and succeeded in
driving them out of Ridgewood and almost in reaching Dickebusch Lake.
In view of the importance to us of the lost position, and of the
exhausted state of the 14th (French) Division, an offer was made
to co-operate with them in a counter-attack to regain the lost ground.
This was gladly accepted, and on the early morning of the 29th May the
11th Essex Regiment attacked in conjunction with two battalions of
Chasseurs of the 46th (French) Division, which was in process of
relieving the 14th Division, the operation taking place under the
orders of the G.O.C., 14th French Division (General Philipot, the
conqueror of Fez).
Under a barrage formed by the French and English artillery the 11th
Essex Regiment attacked with great determination, and by the end of
the day had achieved the whole of its share of the task. The two
battalions of the Chasseurs were, unfortunately, not so successful,
with the result that the right of the 11th Essex Regiment was exposed,
and it was unable to hold on to a small part of the ground recovered
on its extreme right. For this action the Division received a letter
of thanks for its "spontaneous" co-operation from General de Mitry,
commanding the French Detachement de l'Armee du Nord.
The Division remained in the line as next-door neighbours to the
French till the 7th June, when relieved by 33rd Division. Many will
retain pleasant memories of our association with our Allies during the
three to four weeks that we were alongside them, and of the admirable
liaison that existed between us.
During the period of just under three weeks' rest that it enjoyed on
this occasion the Division had one brigade always at Dirty Bucket Camp
working on rear lines of defence, one training in the St. Jan ter
Biezen area, and one at musketry at Cormette, near Tilques. During
this period, too, the 71st Trench-mortar Battery and the 18th
Trench-mortar Battery were able to be of service to the French, the
former being lent to the 46th Division to assist them in an operation
on 8th June, the latter co-operating with the 7th (French) Division in
a successful raid on the 19th June.
On the 27th June the Division passed to the XIX Corps (Lt.-Gen.
Sir H. E. Watts) and relieved the 46th French Division (Chasseurs) in
the Dickebusch sector. This was in a very unpleasant front, where the
dominating position of the enemy on Kemmel Hill made movement, even in
the rear lines, impossible by day, and practically all work, of which
there was plenty, had to be done by night.
The chief incidents of the tour of the Division in this sector were
the successful attack on Ridgewood, the 1st The Buffs daylight raid on
the Brasserie, the sixteen-prisoner night-raid of the 2nd D.L.I. on
the Zillebeke front, and the co-operation of the 18th Infantry Brigade
with the operations of the 41st Division on our right.
The situation created by the enemy's attack on Ridgewood on the 28th
May had never been satisfactorily restored, in spite of repeated
attempts on the part of the 46th (French) Division. The 6th Division
took over with the determination to put this right on the first
opportunity, profiting by the lessons learnt in the successive attacks
made by the French Chasseurs, which their Division had placed most
unreservedly at our disposal. After careful reconnaissance the 18th
Infantry Brigade, assisted by two companies of the 1st Middlesex
Regiment of the 33rd Division, attacked the enemy at 6 a.m. on the
14th July. The attack delivered by the 1st West Yorkshire Regiment and
the 2nd D.L.I. and the two above-mentioned companies was a complete
success. The enemy, taken entirely by surprise, only offered any
resistance in one or two isolated cases, and the dash and prompt
initiative of the attacking troops soon dealt with these. All
objectives were gained, Ridgewood and Elzenwalle retaken, and 7
officers, 341 other ranks, 25 machine-guns, and 3 trench-mortars
captured at small cost to the attackers. Large quantities of
trench-mortar ammunition, found dumped close up to the front line,
demonstrated the correctness of the view that the enemy had in
contemplation a resumption of his offensive on this front. For
this the Division received congratulations from the Commander-in-Chief,
the G.O.C., Second Army (General Sir Herbert Plumer), and G.O.C., XIX
Corps.
The raid of the 1st The Buffs was carried out on the 2nd August. The
objective was the Brasserie and neighbouring farms. The raid, which
was by day and on a fairly extensive scale, was very successful.
On the 8th August the 41st Division carried out a small operation, in
co-operation with which the 18th Infantry Brigade undertook two minor
operations. That by a company of the 1st West Yorkshire Regiment on
the Vierstraat Road was unsuccessful, through no fault of the
attacking infantry, who were held up by machine-guns sited so far
forward that they had escaped our barrage. On the right a company of
the 2nd D.L.I., operating in direct touch with the left of the 41st
Division, was completely successful in carrying out its task. In
connection with operations on this front the Division sustained a
severe loss in Major R. W. Barnett, K.R.R., G.S.O.2, who was killed by
a sniper while reconnoitring on 12th August.
During July and August the Divisional Artillery was exceptionally
busy. An immense amount of effort was put into the preparation of
forward positions for a large number of batteries to be employed in a
contemplated later offensive. Vast quantities of gun ammunition were
carted nightly, and dumped therein in readiness.
During the month of August the Division had the pleasure of close
association with our American Allies, part of the 27th American, a New
York Division, doing their attachment and apprenticeship to trench
warfare with us. On the 21st to the 24th August the Americans relieved
the Division in the line, and it was withdrawn for rest and training
to the Wizernes area.
On leaving the XIX Corps the Corps Commander sent the Division his
"warmest thanks for and appreciation of the excellent service
rendered" while under his command.