"I told the Battery Commanders how sorry we are in the Corps to part with your Division. We know the Division and the Division knows the Corps, and all our battle associations have been happy and successful.
"We sincerely hope that the gallant Pelicans will come back to us.
"I thought you would like to hear about your artillery. They certainly impressed all who saw them very much, and I am sure that they will impress our Allies....
"Yours very sincerely,
"J. G. Geddes."
On the 15th July the enemy began a big attack on a front of 50 miles, each side of Reims, and the Division, which was originally, I believe, to have gone to Verdun, was diverted while still in the troop trains towards the Reims front, and by the 18th had been detrained and billeted in an area between Arcis and Epernay, with headquarters at Tours Sur Marne. We now learned that we, with the 51st Highland Division, had been formed into the 22nd Corps, under command of Lieut.-General Sir A. Godley, and were for the time being a part of the 5th French Army. We heard, too, the cheering news that not only had the German offensive been definitely checked, but that the French had counter-attacked on a long front from Soissons southwards, and, in addition to advancing several kilometres, had captured about 17,000 prisoners.
Late at night on the 18th I was aroused by the news that we were to advance at once and take our place in the line of battle. Accordingly we moved our headquarters on the 19th to Germaine, in the forest of Reims, while the two brigades and the D.A.C. concentrated near Avenay and Fontaine. In the afternoon I rode out with the Brigade and Battery Commanders, and reconnoitred a position of assembly in the forest, out of view of aeroplane observation. Early next morning the batteries moved up into this position, while the Divisional Headquarters was established in the village of St. Imoges. The D.A.C. took up its position close to the Reims-Epernay road, about two miles east of Courtagnon.
At 8 a.m. the French artillery attached to the Division opened a barrage, under which our infantry attacked Marfaux and the Bois de Reims. While in their positions of readiness the artillery was unmolested except by a chance shell, which unfortunately burst on a sub-section of B/312, killing six men and wounding two officers (Lieuts. J. M. Whitworth and W. Burt) and five men. As the fight progressed the brigades were ordered into action, and by 6 p.m. all batteries were in position in the Patis d'Ecueil, with the exception of C/312, which came into action about 800 yards west of Courtagnon Farm. Lieut. P. K. Baillie-Reynolds was also wounded this day. Lieut. G. A. Ellis added a bar to the Military Cross which he had won in March: "He carried an officer, who was wounded in the battery O.P., back to safety through a heavy barrage, and then returned to his post to observe the progress of the attack, sending back valuable information. Later on, when the battery of which he was left in charge was heavily shelled, he promptly moved the men. His coolness and judgment prevented many casualties."
At 10 a.m. on Sunday the 21st we launched an attack against the wooded ridge running north-west from the north of Cuitron. The enemy offered a stubborn resistance, and neither we nor the 51st were able to make much progress. Firing was almost continuous during the day and night, sometimes at the request of our own infantry and sometimes of the French on our right.
Next day we attacked the Bois du Petit Champ just north of Cuitron, and by 4 p.m. we had taken the wood, making prisoners over 200 Huns and capturing 30 machine guns. Lieuts. H. E. Stephens and V. A. H. Draper were wounded, and about ten men were killed or wounded.
At 6 a.m. on the 23rd July the Division attacked under a barrage of our own artillery and French guns, and captured the villages of Marfaux and Cuitron, together with 130 prisoners and about 30 more machine guns. We also recovered a battery of French guns which had been lost in the opening offensive. Several batteries fired as many as 600 rounds per gun, and the infantry declared that the barrage was magnificent. The prisoners were in a great state of depression, and reported that their losses from our artillery fire had been enormous. This was no more than we expected, for large bodies of the enemy had frequently presented ideal targets to our guns throughout the day, and the batteries had taken full advantage of their opportunity. Divisional Headquarters moved to Hautvillers in the evening.