“The Ninth Division was specially selected to carry out the attack on the left flank of the British Second Army and to cover the right flank of the Belgian Army attack. The objectives given were rather more distant than those we have attempted hitherto in Flanders, but, owing to the splendid leading of yourself and the officers of all units, not only were all those objectives gained, but you broke right through the enemy’s line to a depth of 9¼ miles. In 1917 it took our Army over three months to get only half that distance, and at great cost. The Ninth Division has done it, and a great deal more, in twenty-four hours. What further evidence is required of the magnificence of this exploit?
“The Ninth Division has done splendidly all through the war, but these last operations will be considered by history to have eclipsed all their previous performances. In the last few days the conditions have been trying and you have had to beat off many counter-attacks. The weather has been bad and shelter has been very scanty. Yet the spirit of all ranks has always kept at a high level and you have upheld the splendid traditions of the British Army and of the Division in particular.”
[131] These earned another “mention” for the Division. “In these successful operations the Ninth Division, forming part of the command of General Jacobs’ II. Corps, has again fought with great distinction.”
(Extract from official Communiqué, 16th October.)
[132] This however was practically impossible when the crossing was not to be carried out simultaneously by the attacking divisions.
[133] Major King who was commanding the Royal Scots Fusiliers was wounded near Belgiek, and the command of the battalion was taken over by Captain J. S. Glass.
[134] On the 23rd Lieut.-Colonel R. Campbell, D.S.O., who had seen a great deal of service with the Fifty-first Division, took over the command of the battalion.
[135] Prisoners captured, 54 officers, 2555 other ranks; guns captured, 64.
[136] Near the end of October a staff officer of the Ninth went to the Divisional Signals Office to find out if there was any news. The answer was “Yes, sir, Austria has thrown in her ‘mit.’” It was thus that a phlegmatic Scottish soldier announced the fall of the ancient Empire of the Hapsburgs, the oldest reigning family in Europe and heirs of the Holy Roman Empire!
[137] The fact that some Germans were relieved of their watches may have been due to a custom that had sprung up during four years of war, or to some confusion of mind about the “Watch on the Rhine”!