The Territorial Divisions, 1914-1918

by John Stirling

FOOTNOTES:

[5] In The Fifth Highland Light Infantry, 1914-18 (MacLehose and Co., 1921, p. 29), there is a statement that Sir Ian Hamilton had been misinformed as to the right of the 157th Brigade giving way before a party of bombers. It is admitted that a portion of trench had been vacated through an order having been misunderstood, but it is stated that another company at once occupied it and was holding it when the afternoon attack commenced. There may have been other incidents of which the “Fifth” were unaware.

[6] At page 281 of Messrs. Dent’s edition of Sir Douglas Haig’s Despatches the following note occurs at this point: “This is incorrect. There were no bridgeheads at this time and the crossings were forced by the 52nd Division at the opening of their attack.”

53RD (WELSH) DIVISION
First Line

The Division landed at Suvla Bay, Gallipoli, between 7th and 10th August, 1915, and became a part of the larger force which landed a few days earlier.

In his despatch of 11th December, 1915, Sir Ian Hamilton describes the attempt made on the 9th August by the 11th Division to seize hills north of Anafarta-Sagir. He remarked, “The line was later on prolonged by the remainder of the 34th Brigade and two battalions of the 159th Brigade of the 53rd Division. Their right was connected with the Chocolate Hills by the 33rd Brigade.” “Some of the units which took part in this engagement acquitted themselves very bravely. I regret I have not had sufficient detail given me to mention them by name. The Divisional Commander speaks with appreciation of one freshly landed battalion of the 53rd Division, a Hereford battalion, presumably the 1/1st Herefordshire, which attacked with impetuosity and courage.” “During the night of the 8th and 9th and early morning of the 9th the whole of the 53rd (Territorial) Division (my general reserve) had arrived and disembarked.... I had ordered it up to Suvla.” “The infantry brigades of the 53rd Division (no artillery had accompanied it from England) reinforced the 11th Division.”

The next paragraph shows that the 53rd Division took part in another attack on the 10th which failed. “Many of the battalions fought with great gallantry and were led forward with much devotion by their officers.”

The 53rd Division along with the 54th were engaged on the 21st August, the “Battle of Scimitar Hill.” They were to hold the enemy while the 29th and 11th Divisions attacked. The attack was not successful.

The troops at Suvla were evacuated in December 1915, the operation being successfully completed on the night of 19th-20th December.

The Division was taken to Egypt, and in his despatch of 1st June, 1916, paragraph 1, Sir A. Murray stated that the Division was early that year “occupied in operations on the Western Frontier of Egypt.”

Sir A. Murray in his despatch of 1st October, 1916, paragraph 5, refers to the fighting in August, to the east of the Suez Canal, and a quotation as to the repulse of heavy attacks on 4th-5th August has already been given under the 52nd Division. This is now designated the “Battle of Rumani.”

In his despatch of 28th June, 1917, paragraph 1, Sir A. Murray refers to the reconstitution of the “Desert Column” and mentions the 53rd Division as one of its units in March.

The Division bore a leading part in the “First Battle of Gaza,” 26th-27th March, 1917. Paragraph 2 of the despatch last mentioned shows that the 53rd Division was “to attack Gaza in front,” their left being covered by the Gloucestershire Hussars among the sandhills on the coast. The approach march was made on the 25th and early on the 26th.

Paragraph 3: “Meanwhile the 53rd Division, under the command of Major-General A. G. Dallas, C.B., C.M.G., having thrown forward strong bridgeheads before dawn,” (on the 26th) “crossed the Wadi Ghuzze at a point some three miles from the sea-coast, with one brigade on the right directed on the Mansura Ridge, and another brigade on the left directed on El Sheluf, some two miles south of Gaza, on the ridge running south-west from that place. A brigade was held in reserve.” A brigade of the 54th was placed at the disposal of the G.O.C. 53rd Division when required.

“The deployment of the leading brigades commenced at 11.50 a.m., and the brigade in reserve moved forward shortly afterwards to its assigned position. In co-operation with artillery fire and long-range machine-gun fire, the brigade on the left pressed forward along the ridge, and the remaining brigades over the flat, open ground, practically devoid of cover. The final advance, which began just after 1 p.m., was very steady, and all the troops behaved magnificently, though the enemy offered a very stout resistance, both with rifle and machine-gun fire, and our advancing troops, during the approach march, the deployment and attack, were subjected to a heavy shrapnel fire.”

In the afternoon the mounted troops attacked Gaza from north and north-east, and enveloped it, having heavy fighting among the gardens and enclosures.

Paragraph 4: “Meanwhile the infantry attack was being pressed with great vigour, and by 4.30 p.m. considerable progress had been made. Portions of the enemy’s positions were already in our hands and shortly afterwards the Ali Muntar Hill, a strong work known as the Labyrinth, and the ground in the immediate neighbourhood fell into our hands. The Australian and New Zealand Mounted Division was already exerting pressure on the enemy, and by 5 p.m. the enemy was holding out in the trenches and on the hill south of the Mosque only. The G.O.C. 53rd Division called on the brigade of the 54th Division (Brigadier-General W. Marriott-Dodington) which had been placed at his disposal to take this position. The brigade responded with the greatest gallantry in face of a heavy fire and after some hard fighting it pushed home its attack with complete success, so that when darkness fell the whole of the Ali Muntar position had been carried and a footing gained on the ridge to a point about 1200 yards north-east of that position.”

Paragraph 5 deals with the “strong columns of the enemy” moving 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.

In Sir John French’s despatch of 14th January, 1915, giving the names of those who had distinguished themselves prior to the end of November 1914, he mentions an officer and N.C.O. of the 10th Liverpool, and in that of 31st May, 1915, officers and men of the 5th Royal Lancaster, 10th Liverpool, 4th South Lancashire and 5th Loyal North Lancashire. Subsequently other names were mentioned for the Ypres battle and for the battles about Festubert.

The individual battalions were brought together, and the Division reconstituted as a unit, under Major-General H. S. Jeudwine, in January 1916. By that date several battalions had few of their original members on their strength.

In February the Division joined the XIV. Corps south of Arras. At the end of July they were taken to the Somme. On 30th July the Division entered the line under the XIV. Corps opposite Guillemont on the extreme right of the British Army, the French being their neighbours on the right flank. On 8th, 9th and 12th August the Division attacked and a certain amount of ground was gained and consolidated, but the village was not taken. From 16th August to 4th September they were at rest and then entered the line under the XV. Corps near Delville Wood. They took part in an attack on 9th September, the “Battle of Ginchy.”

The despatch from Sir Douglas Haig of 23rd December, 1916, deals with the Somme battle. Paragraph 29 (Dent’s edition), shows that the 55th was employed in the big attack by the Fourth Army beginning on 25th September, now designated the “Battle of Morval.” The objectives “included a belt of country about 1000 yards deep, curving round the north of Flers to a point midway between that village and Martinpuich (55th Division, Major-General H. S. Jeudwine, and New Zealand and 1st Divisions).” These objectives were gained.

Paragraph 31 states: “On the Fourth Army front on 27th September a further portion of the enemy’s fourth system of defence north-west of Gueudecourt was carried on a front of a mile by the 55th and New Zealand Divisions.” A further “very considerable advance,” was made in the afternoon and evening.

On the night of the 28th September, the Division left the line and was ordered to the Ypres salient. The Commander of the Fourth Army sent them a message which spoke of their good work and their “spirit of gallantry and endurance.”

The Division was still in the salient when the great attack of 31st July, 1917, took place. That assault was the beginning of the Third Battle of Ypres, now “The Battles of Ypres, 1917.”

Sir Douglas Haig’s despatch of 25th December, 1917, paragraph 41 (Dent’s edition), deals with the initial assault launched at 3.50 a.m. on 31st July, and states: “At 9 a.m. the whole of our second objectives north of the Ypres-Roulers railway were in our possession with the exception of a strong point north of Frezenberg, known as Pommern Redoubt, where fighting was still going on. Within an hour this redoubt had also been captured by West Lancashire Territorials (55th Division).” In this attack the Division was in the XIX. Corps, Fifth Army. See note, Messrs. Dent’s edition, p. 113. The operations 31st July-2nd August are now designated the “Battle of Pilckem Ridge.”

Paragraph 50 of the same despatch gives an account of the attack launched at 5.40 a.m. on 20th September (the Battle of the Menin Road Ridge), “a most successful operation,” notwithstanding the excessively bad state of the ground. “West Lancashire Territorials (55th Division) found the ground south-east of St. Julien very wet and heavy after the night’s rain. None the less, they made steady progress, reaching the line of their final objectives early in the afternoon.”

Needless to say, the losses of the Division in the Third Battle of Ypres were heavy.

In the last week of September the Division left the salient after over eleven months’ service there. They were taken to the Epéhy district south-west of Cambrai and at once entered the line.

The Division held the right of the battle line when the British attacked on 20th November, 1917 (the “Battle of Cambrai, 1917”)· In his telegraphic despatch of 21st November, Sir Douglas Haig said: “West Lancashire Territorials broke through positions about Epéhy.” This part of the attack was really a feint or holding attack, but it cost the Division heavy casualties.

On 30th November the enemy made his great counter-attack with very strong forces. The Division held the southern part of the British line where it was attacked. The Divisional frontage was nearly eight miles, and as it was impossible to man a continuous line, it was held by posts. Another British division was on the right of the 55th but it was not seriously involved in the fighting on 20th and 30th November.

The battle is described in paragraphs 9 and 10 of the despatch of 20th February, 1918.

Paragraph 9 states: “From the Banteux ravine southwards the divisions in line were weak and held very extended fronts.” “In view of the symptoms of activity observed on the enemy’s front, special precautions were taken by local commanders, especially from Villers Guislain to the south.” The map opposite p. 163 of Messrs. Dent’s edition shows the latter portion to have been in the area of the 55th Division.

Paragraph 10: “Between the hours of 7 and 8 a.m. on the last day of November, the enemy attacked, after a short but intense artillery preparation, on the greater part of a front of some ten miles, from Vendhuille” (on our right) “to Masnières” (on our left) “inclusive. From Masnières to Banteux, both inclusive, four German divisions would seem to have been employed against the three British divisions holding this area (29th, 20th and 12th).” The map above referred to shows these are from left to right. “Between Banteux exclusive and Vendhuille one German division and portions of two others were employed against the northern half of the British division holding that front (the 55th Division, Major-General H. S. Jeudwine).”

“At the northern end of the Bonavis Ridge, and in the Gonnelieu sector[7] the swiftness with which the advance of the enemy’s infantry followed the opening of his bombardment appears to have overwhelmed our troops, both in line and in immediate support, almost before they had realised that the attack had begun.”

“East of Villers Guislain[8] the troops holding our forward positions on the high ground were still offering a strenuous resistance to the enemy’s attack on their front, at a time when large forces of German infantry had already advanced up the valley between them and Villers Guislain. South of this village a single strong point known as Limerick Post, garrisoned by troops of the 1/5th Battalion (King’s Own), Royal Lancaster Regiment and the 1/10th Battalion, Liverpool Regiment (both of the 55th Division), held out with great gallantry throughout the day, although heavily attacked.

“The progress made by the enemy, however, across the northern end of the Bonavis Ridge and up the deep gully between Villers Guislain and Gonnelieu, known as 22 Ravine, turned our positions on the ridge as well as in both villages.”

Towards the close of the despatch, paragraph 15, Sir Douglas Haig said: “On the 30th November risks were accepted by us at some points in order to increase our strength at others. Our fresh reserves had been thrown in on the Bourlon front, where the enemy brought against us a total force of seven divisions to three and failed. I do not consider it would have been justifiable on the indications to have allotted a smaller garrison to this front.” And again: “Though the defence broke down for a time in one area the recovery made by the weak forces still left and those within reach is worthy of the highest praise. Numberless instances of great gallantry, promptitude and skill were shown, some few of which have been recounted.”

It would be against the spirit of what has been said in the introduction if any stress were laid here on what a unit said about itself, but in view of the discussion which took place on the events of 30th November it does seem fair to say that in the Story of the 55th Division (Liverpool Daily Post Office), there is quoted a letter from the Commander of the VII. Corps, under which the Division was serving on the 30th, in which he said: “He knows that the 30th November, 1917, in spite of the heavy losses incurred, was a day which will always reflect credit on the 55th Division. The fact that not a man returned from the 5th South Lancashire Regiment” (the battalion next the ravine) “when that battalion was attacked by overwhelming numbers, tells its own tale.” In a message on another occasion he said: “It cannot be contradicted by anyone that the 55th saved the day on November 30th, 1917. You got a most infernal hammering, but you saved the day.”

On 8th December the Division was relieved and shortly afterwards moved north. After two months’ training, when much-needed drafts were absorbed, the Division entered the line in the Givenchy-Festubert area on 15th February, 1918. About this time brigades were reduced from four to three battalions. The 1/8th and 1/9th Liverpool Regiment and 1/5th Loyal North Lancashire were taken out of the 55th and sent to the 57th. In the beginning of 1918 there was difficulty in keeping second line divisions up to establishment.

When the Lys battle broke out the 55th Division was put to as severe a test as could be imagined, and stood it magnificently. The Division was congratulated in an order by the Commander-in-Chief, and the terms of his supplementary despatch, dated 15th April, 1918, could not have been more flattering. It was as follows:

“The 55th Division at Givenchy, 9th-14th April, 1918.
Headquarters, France, Monday, 1.15 p.m.

“On the morning of the German attack on the 9th April, 1918, the 55th (West Lancashire) Division (Territorial) was holding a front of about 6000 yards, extending from the La Bassée Canal to just south of Richebourg l’Avoué, where its line joined that held by the Portuguese.

“The enemy’s attack on the southern portion of this front was delivered by all three regiments of the 4th Ersatz Division, which was well up to strength.

“A captured Divisional order issued by the General Staff of this German Division, and dated 6th April, 1918, shows that its objectives were ‘the ground and the British position in the triangle formed by Givenchy-Festubert-Gorre.’

“The following passages from this captured order are of special interest.

“‘In our attack our three regiments will be opposed by at most six companies in front and at most two reserve battalions in Festubert and Givenchy. One battalion in divisional reserve is south of the La Bassée Canal, in Le Preol. It will be prevented by our powerful artillery fire from taking part in the fight for Festubert and Givenchy. The troops are elements of the English 55th Division, which, after being engaged on the Somme, has suffered heavy losses in Flanders and at Cambrai, and was described by prisoners in March, 1918, as a division fit to hold a quiet sector, that is below the average quality.’

“The order containing the passages quoted above was distributed among all officers and under-officers of the 4th Ersatz Division down to platoon-commanders, presumably with a view to encouraging the troops prior to their attack, and in the belief that the opposition met with would not be very serious. If this was his expectation, the enemy was most signally disappointed.

“Throughout the early part of the morning of the 9th April, the 55th Division beat off all attacks in its forward zone, and maintained its line intact.

“Later, when the German infantry had broken through the Portuguese positions on its left, the Division formed a defensive flank facing north-east on the line Givenchy-Festubert to the neighbourhood of Le Touret. This line it maintained practically unchanged until relief, through six days of almost continual fighting, in the course of which it beat off repeated German attacks with the heaviest losses to the enemy, and took nearly a thousand prisoners.

“At one time, on the first day of his attack, the enemy’s troops forced their way into Givenchy and Festubert. Both villages were shortly afterwards regained by the 55th Division as the result of a highly successful counter-attack, in which several hundred Germans were captured.

“All further attempts on the part of the enemy to carry these positions broke down before the resolute defence of the 55th Division. Though he succeeded on the 11th April in entering a post north of Festubert, he was thrown out again by a counter-attack, and on the night of the 12th April the 55th Division improved its position in this neighbourhood, capturing a German post and taking several prisoners.

“Next day, during the afternoon, the enemy heavily bombarded the whole front held by the Division between Gorre and the Lawe Canal, and subsequently attacked in strength. He was once more repulsed with heavy loss by the most gallant and successful defence of a division which he had been pleased to describe as consisting of second-class troops.”

The fine conduct of the Division was again referred to in the despatch of 20th July, 1918, which deals with the Lys battle, paragraph 51. It was there stated that “Throughout the remainder of the day, 9th April, the 55th Division maintained its positions against all assaults, and by successful counter-attacks captured over 750 prisoners. The success of this most gallant defence, the importance of which it would be hard to over-estimate, was due in great measure to the courage and determination displayed by our advance posts. These held out with the utmost resolution though surrounded, pinning to the ground those parties of the enemy who had penetrated our defences, and preventing them from developing their attack. Among the many gallant deeds recorded of them, one instance is known of a machine gun which was kept in action although the German infantry had entered the rear compartment of the ‘pill-box’ from which it was firing, the gun team holding up the enemy by revolver fire from the inner compartment.”

The losses of the Division at Givenchy exceeded 3000.

The despatch of 21st December, 1918, paragraph 40, shows that in September there was sharp fighting in which the 16th, 55th and 19th Divisions pressed back the enemy and “advanced our line close to the outskirts of La Bassée.”

During the remainder of September pressure was kept up by the I. Corps, now in the Fifth Army, including the 55th Division. In October the enemy withdrew slowly, and the Division followed closely on his heels, driving in rearguards and at times meeting with very stubborn opposition. On 8th October the III. Corps took control and the same policy was pursued. The Haute Deule canal was crossed on the night of 15th-16th October after a good deal of fighting. On the morning of 11th November the town of Ath was occupied.

An excellent account of the work of the Division will be found in The Story of the 55th (West Lancashire) Division, by the Rev. J. O. Coop, D.S.O., T.D., Liverpool, 1919.

The 1/5th Royal Lancaster Regiment, 1/10th Liverpool Regiment, and 1/5th South Lancashire Regiment were chosen for the Armies of Occupation.