LOOS
The 1st Division took the centre, with the 15th Scottish Division
on the right and the 9th Division on the left. The 1st Division
faced a part of the line known as "Lone Tree," named after a tree
between the two lines and the only one there. The Division had battle
Headquarters at Larutwar Farm, and Brigade Headquarters in a part of
the trenches known as "Daly's Keep." At 6.40 a.m. on the morning of the
twenty-fifth of September the attack was to be launched, first by the
Royal Engineers letting off asphyxiating gas; when that reached the
German lines or was three parts of the way across, the Infantry were
to follow. Of the 2nd Brigade the 1st Loyal North Lancashires and the
King's Royal Rifles were the two Regiments selected, and to them was
given the honour of going over first, the King's Royal Rifles on the
right. Punctually at the time given the gas was let off, accompanied
by smoke bombs, but unfortunately before it had reached half the
distance across, the wind changed and blew it back upon us. However,
over we went, and, as our distance to the enemy's lines was quite
eight hundred yards, we covered them by short rushes. On reaching the
enemy's wire entanglements we found that they had not been sufficiently
damaged to admit of our access to the enemy's trench; so we held on for
reinforcements, which arrived in the form of the 2nd Royal Sussex; but
we could not make headway against the enemy's machine-guns, although
the Divisions on our left and right had advanced a considerable
distance. A Brigade consisting of several Territorial Regiments in the
Division was then sent to our aid, and this time we got through, taking
several hundred prisoners. The Divisions on the left and right of us
had advanced, the enemy opposed to them had retired and were to all
intents and purposes cut off, so they had perforce to surrender. This
gave us practically a clear run of about half a mile, and we saw, as
we passed, that our objective at the chalk-pit was the village of Loos
on our left. Fighting in Loos village was very furious indeed. This
chalk-pit is situated on the Loos-Lens road, and on the left of it is a
wood, where, after charging through it for spare Germans, we dug in.
[Illustration: MAP 6.
_Rough Sketch showing Attack at Loos_]
At 4 a.m. on the morning of the twenty-sixth we were relieved by the
21st Division of Kitchener's Army, as we had obtained our objective. We
went back to our old original trenches, leaving the 21st Division to
carry on. Our ranks were sadly depleted, having lost many men: it was
an awful and ghastly sight coming back over the ground we had taken.
About two o'clock that afternoon we heard that the 21st Division were
not doing well, and that a couple of field-batteries which had taken
up position immediately behind the old German front line had been put
out of action, as well as two batteries to the right of Larutwar Farm,
which was packed from end to end with wounded, waiting to be taken
away. The motor-ambulances worked night and day.
Soon after this, the 24th Division, another of Kitchener's Divisions,
came into action to relieve the 21st, very few of whom remained. This
Division stopped in for nearly twenty-four hours, and retook some of
the ground that the 21st had lost. The afternoon before the Guards
Division, fresh from ----, where they had been in training, and the
New Welsh Guards also went into action, making an attack on the
Hohenzollern Redoubt. They did good work, I believe, in taking part of
it.
On the night of the twenty-seventh we were ordered out from our old
line to the old German support line in reserve; but next morning were
taken out again and sent back to Mazingarbe, a small village behind
Vermelles. We had eight hours' rest here, and that same night proceeded
to the recently captured village of Loos, where were packed piles of
dead Germans and men of the 15th Scottish Division. It was indeed an
ugly sight. From one cellar we turned out twenty Germans, and we also
took one who had been working an underground telephone. We spent one
night in this cellar, and the following night proceeded through the
village to Hill 70, where we filled a gap and dug a line of trenches,
digging most of the time through solid chalk. While there we were
heavily shelled, as also was Loos, where houses were crashing to the
ground every few minutes.
Three days afterwards we were relieved by a French Division and went
back to Neaux-le-Mines for a well-earned five-days' respite. After
that we were put into the trenches at Vermelles, and on October the
tenth the enemy made a determined attack on the 9th King's Liverpools
and Gloucesters 3rd Brigade, to whom we had then been attached. The
enemy were well driven off, but both regiments had to be taken out
that night, and we went up in the place of the King's Liverpools, and
were situated in our old trenches near the chalk-pit. Here, on the
morning of the eleventh of October, we were badly shelled: we lost a
machine-gun team and the gun was knocked out. I was then ordered to
take a message into Loos village to the 3rd Brigade Office, requesting
them to send up another gun-team at once.
Coming back from this message I received my wound, getting a nasty
knock through the leg, severing the arteries and smashing the bone.
After binding it tightly, I managed to make my way to the first-aid
dressing-station, a distance of nearly a mile and a half. Thence I
proceeded to Mazingarbe, but, owing to hæmorrhage, I did not get my
wound dressed until I was sent back to Lozingham, where I was sent to
the operating tent of the 23rd Field Ambulance. Whilst awaiting my
turn, I watched the surgeons take from another man's knee a bullet. Two
days later I was sent to Rouen, where I spent ten days; from there I
came home to Salisbury Infirmary, and I was in this hospital for twelve
weeks undergoing three operations. I was, on becoming convalescent,
sent to the Red Cross Hospital, Salisbury; and here I spent another
month, and proceeded at the end of that time to the house of Sir
Vincent Caillard at Wingfield. At this house I was given massage twice
a day; and after a month was sent on to Sutten Veney. After three weeks
I was given my discharge, and proceeded to the depôt in Lancashire,
where I finally signed my papers and re-entered back to civilian life
after having had one year and 246 days on active service.
The 1st Division on landing in France consisted of three Infantry
Brigades, comprising:
1st Brigade
Grenadier Guards.
Coldstream Guards.
Royal Highlanders (Black Watch).
Munster Fusiliers.
2nd Brigade
1st Loyal North Lancashire Regiment.
2nd King's Royal Rifle Corps.
2nd Royal Sussex Regiment.
2nd Northampton Regiment.
3rd Brigade
The Welsh Regiment.
South Wales Borderers.
Queen's Royal West Kents.
Gloucester Regiment.
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Transcriber's note:
Obvious errors of punctuation and diacritics were corrected.
Hyphens removed: arm[-]pits (p. 118), brick[-]fields (p. 128),
half[-]way (pp. 129, 138).