Charleroi, 18th March, 1919.
Demobilization is so rapidly scattering the officers and men of the Division, that the time has arrived when I must take a formal farewell of those who, during the past two years, have served me so well.
On such an occasion, it will not be out of place briefly to review the achievements of the Division throughout the great war.
The first critical days of August, 1914, brought with them the call to the Territorial Force to volunteer for active service abroad. The East Lancashire Division eagerly offered itself, and may well be proud of its unique record of being the first division of the Territorial Force to leave England for service abroad.
In September, 1914, the Division sailed to Egypt. There the work of training was relieved by a share of the garrison duty and defensive operations in Egypt which, in February, 1915, brought the Division its first fighting in the repulse of the Turkish attack on the Suez Canal.
In May, 1915, the Division landed in Gallipoli. There for eight long months it fought a campaign of unceasing danger and privation, punctuated only by fierce and bloody engagements. The Division, and those in East Lancashire who are associated with it, may well be proud of its achievements on June 4th, 5th and 6th, 1915.
Following the evacuation of the Dardanelles, the early months of 1916 saw the Division on another front—Sinai Peninsula. There it took part in the pursuit of the Turkish army to El Arish.
The month of March, 1917, brought the Division into France, and its achievements there are still comparatively fresh in our minds.
After its earliest tours of duty at Epéhy and Havrincourt, it took its part in the operations at Ypres in 1917. Thence it went to Nieuport, where for a spell it held a particularly difficult sector.
The winter of 1917-1918 saw it holding the line astride the Béthune—La Bassée Canal, cheerfully undergoing the trials, dangers and discomforts of a winter of trench life. During its tour here, the Division worked strenuously on a system of defence destined to prove of vital importance in the enemy offensive on the Lys in April, 1918; and its sister Division, the 55th West Lancashires, has paid a generous tribute to the assistance this work rendered them when they won renown in the heroic defence of Givenchy.