Each brigade was covered by a brigade of field artillery as follows:—
154th Brigade by the 293rd Army Brigade, R.F.A., Lieut.-Colonel A. Main, D.S.O., commanding.
152nd Brigade by the 255th Brigade, R.F.A., Lieut.-Colonel F. Fleming, D.S.O., commanding.
153rd Brigade by the 256th Brigade, R.F.A., Lieut.-Colonel L. M. Dyson, D.S.O., commanding.
These brigades were disposed with nine forward 18-pounders and four forward 4·5 howitzers, and with the remainder of the guns in main battery positions 3500 yards behind the front line. The forward guns only were active, the remainder remaining silent so as not to disclose their positions.
Four 6-inch Newton trench-mortars covered the front line in each brigade front, while four were in positions from which they could cover the intermediate line.
The guns of all four machine-gun companies were in position with the exception of six held in reserve. They were distributed for the most part in pairs as follows: Fourteen in the support line, fourteen in the reserve line, sixteen in the intermediate line, eight in the Corps line, and six in supporting points between the intermediate line and Corps line. The positions of these guns were all selected entirely with a view to obtaining good fields of fire over the sights, their uses for purposes of firing a barrage being treated as a secondary consideration.
On 11th March 1918 Major-General Sir G. M. Harper, K.C.B., D.S.O., was promoted to the command of the IVth Corps. Though his promotion came as no surprise, and was indeed confidently expected, the departure of the General came nevertheless as a severe blow.
There were strong feelings towards the General which animated the Division other than those of confidence in his command, and deep respect for his qualities as a soldier. General Harper’s personality was one which won for him the genuine affection of all ranks with whom he came in contact. In constant touch with his troops, both in and out of the line, he was known personally to many of them. He never confined his conversation with them to matters of military interest alone, and in consequence they appreciated that he regarded them in the light of normal sympathies, and not merely as units in a fighting machine.
It can safely be said that the Jocks regarded “Uncle” or “Daddie,” as the General was known to them, not merely as a commander in whom lay the origin of their success, but as a friend who had their constant welfare in mind.