On leaving the Third Army, General Sir Julian Byng, the Army Commander, sent the following message:—
“I cannot allow the 51st Division to leave the Third Army without expressing my appreciation of their splendid conduct during the stage of the great battle which is just completed. By their devotion and courage they have broken up overwhelming attacks and prevented the enemy gaining his object—namely, a decisive victory. I wish them every possible good luck.”
The Division had thus not only proved its efficiency in the attack, but it had earned from its Army Commander the highest praise both for the excellence of its work, carried out during a period of stationary warfare, and also its powers of defence.
One important fact had been confirmed from the fighting which is worth recording, as it in some degree accounted for the rolling-up of the front and support lines on the 152nd and 153rd Brigade fronts on the morning on which the attack opened.
A few days before the battle broke out, it had been appreciated that the heaps of earth excavated out of the enormous trenches dug by the Division were so great that it not only prevented the posts from seeing neighbouring posts on their flanks, but the men, even when standing on their fire-steps, could not see to their rear or to their flanks because of the great mounds of soil on the parapet and parados.
Orders were therefore being issued that these mounds were to be levelled down so that a man could stand on the fire-step and have a clear field of fire all round him. The German attack, however, came before this order could be put into effect, with the result that the men in their deep trenches were suddenly assailed from their flanks and rear by an enemy whom they could not see to shoot before he was within bombing range of them. They thus had little opportunity of offering effective resistance to the enfilade attack, and were, no doubt, in consequence rapidly overwhelmed.
The levelling down of the excavated earth during trench construction subsequently became a standing order in the Division.