3rd August, 1917.
To All Ranks of the 55th (West Lancashire) Division.
Before you went into action on the 31st July, I told you how confident I was that the Division would do its duty and maintain its reputation and the reputation of the grand Regiments to which you belong.
You have done more than that.
The attack you made on the 31st is worthy to rank with the great deeds of the British Army in the past, and has added fresh glory to the record of that Army.
The courage, determination, and self-sacrifice shown by Officers, Warrant Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers, and men is beyond praise. It is a fine exhibition of true discipline, which comes from the mutual confidence of all ranks in themselves, their comrades, their leaders, and those under them. This in its turn is the product of hard training. Your doings on the 31st show how well you have turned this training to account.
You captured every inch of the objectives allotted to you. It was not your fault that you could not hold all you took. You have broken and now hold, in spite of weather and counter-attacks, a line that the enemy has strengthened and consolidated at his leisure for more than two years.
This will, I believe, be the beginning of the end. When your turn comes to go forward again you will know your own strength and the enemy will know it too.
I am proud of what you have done and am confident that with such troops ultimate victory is certain.