In his despatch of 15th November, 1918, as to the concluding operations on the Italian front, Lord Cavan stated, paragraph 30, that the 48th Division, Major-General Sir H. B. Walker, K.C.B., D.S.O., had been employed on the Asiago plateau as part of the 6th Italian Army. It formed part of the XII. Italian Corps. “Successful raids were carried out on the 4th, 11th and 23rd October, which resulted in the capture of 445 prisoners and 12 machine guns.”
Raids and patrols on 29th and 30th October found that the enemy were moving back, and a general advance of the 6th Italian Army was ordered. The 48th British and a French Division were the first to move. On 1st November the 4th Royal Berkshire Regiment captured Mont Catz.
“On the morning of 2nd November the success gained on Mont Catz by the 145th Infantry Brigade was widely exploited. Mont Mosciagh was in the hands of the 48th Division by 7.30 a.m. and the Interrotto position was thus outflanked. The advance then became more rapid, and by dark the advanced guards had reached Vezzena, and thus set foot on Austrian soil. This Division was therefore the first British division to enter enemy territory on the western front.” The 4th Berkshire was part of the 145th Brigade.
“On the morning of 3rd November the advance was again resumed and by dark both Caldonazzo and Levico had been occupied.
“At 3 p.m. on 4th November when the Armistice (with Austria) came into force, the leading troops were on the line Miola-eastern outskirts of Trent.
“The captures in prisoners and guns made by the 48th Division cannot be accurately ascertained: they amounted to at least 20,000 prisoners and 500 guns. Included amongst the prisoners were the Commander of the III. Corps and three Divisional Commanders.
“It must be remembered that this division was attacking very formidable mountain positions with only a fifth part of the artillery that would have been at its disposal had the initial attack started on the Altipiano. Its performance therefore in driving in the enemy’s rearguards so resolutely while climbing up to heights of 5000 feet, is all the more praiseworthy.
“During these operations the leadership of Brigadier-General G. C. Sladen, C.M.G., D.S.O., M.C., commanding the 143rd Infantry Brigade, was particularly noticeable.
“31. The infantry had been waiting for an opportunity to show that they could worthily emulate the performances of their comrades in France. When the opportunity came they fulfilled my highest anticipations.”
Lord Cavan’s despatch of 15th November, 1918, paragraph 2, shows that three battalions of the 48th Division were taken to France on 13th/14th September of that year. These were the 1/8th Royal Warwickshire Regiment, 1/5th Gloucestershire Regiment, and 1/8th Worcestershire Regiment. They formed the reconstituted 75th Brigade in the 25th Division, which, after being sadly battered in the March Retreat, the Lys Battle of April and the German offensive on the Aisne at the end of May, had been withdrawn from the line and formed anew. The Division was concentrated in front of Combles on 3rd October and on the 4th commenced a hard struggle for the capture of Beaurevoir. This was completed by the 75th Brigade on the 5th after two previous attempts had failed. Sir A. Conan Doyle, vol. vi. p. 174, speaking of this achievement, says: “Fryell’s 75th Brigade was now assembled in the dead ground west of Beaurevoir, and at about 6.30 dashed at it with levelled bayonets and a determination which would take no denial. The enemy were swept out of it and the line carried forward 500 yards to the east of it.” Another account of the operation will be found at pp. 187 and 188 of The Story of the Fourth Army, and it is there remarked: “Perhaps the outstanding feature of the operations was the daylight attack of the 1/5th Gloucestershire and the 1/8th Worcestershire, which finally captured Beaurevoir village.” At p. 198 of that work it is stated that the same brigade and a brigade of the 66th captured Maretz on the 9th. At p. 227 there is an account of a battle on 18th October when the 75th Brigade, which was temporarily attached to the 50th Division, again got credit by its capture of La Roux Farm and Bazuel and some heavy guns. P. 234 shows that the Brigade did fine work on the 23rd when the 1/8th Worcestershire captured Tilleuls Farm and a battery of howitzers.