The history of the 9th (Scottish) Division, 1914-1919

by M.C. John Ewing

LOOS

The main front lines of the British and the enemy were about 500 yards apart and between them jutted out in a south-west direction from the northern part of the German front line the maze of trenches and fortifications known as the Hohenzollern Redoubt. Direct communication between the Redoubt and the main line, which was here known as Dump Trench and Fosse Trench, was secured by two communication trenches, named North Face and South Face, running from north-east to south-west. Two trenches, Big Willie and Little Willie, running respectively east and north, protected the flanks of the Redoubt. But the chief features of the enemy’s defences were Fosse 8 and the Dump—an accumulation of débris, which is a familiar sight in all mining areas—and from these points the enemy could look right up the valley that was the scene of the British attack. Of equal importance was the Double Crassier on the extreme right which, with the Fosse and the Dump, formed the key of the whole tactical position, and until they were captured and held, guns could not be brought up to give close support to the infantry in any advance beyond the first system of trenches. If nothing more was secured, the operation would amply justify itself.

On the 21st September the preliminary bombardment commenced at 7 A.M., and in reply the German artillery fired little beyond their usual. At noon on the same day, the first of the feint attacks was made, when the 26th Brigade opposite the Hohenzollern Redoubt opened two minutes’ rapid fire with rifles and machine-guns on Big and Little Willie. In addition, the men did all that was possible to make the foe believe that an attack on the Redoubt was imminent; bayonets were shown over the parapet, dummies were moved about, the men shouted, and pipes and bugles sounded the charge. This demonstration caused the Germans[12] to man their parapet, and as our artillery deluged their front trenches with shrapnel five minutes after noon, it was believed[13] that heavy losses had been inflicted on the garrison. During the third and fourth days of the bombardment, the reply of the German artillery became more rapid and intense. When on the 23rd an operation, similar to that carried out by the 26th Brigade two days previously, was made by the 28th Brigade against Little Willie and Madagascar Trench, it was noticed that the enemy heavily shelled our reserve trenches. At night infantry patrols were sent out to ascertain the effect of our artillery-fire on the German wire, and their reports showed that numerous gaps had been made, but unfortunately on the front of the 28th Brigade patrols failed to examine the enemy’s wire.[14] This was largely due to the desire to save the men from being exposed to our own artillery-fire; but the omission had lamentable consequences. Not till the small hours of the 25th was the hour of zero communicated to the battalions. As the wind was favourable, the main operation was to be undertaken. Zero was fixed for 5.50 A.M., and forty minutes after zero the infantry were to leave the trenches.

At 5.50 A.M. our artillery opened, and gas and smoke were discharged along the whole front. The scene had a terrible grandeur, and the combination of gun-fire, gas, and smoke produced a wonderful effect of mingled whites, greys, yellows, and browns.

On the left of the Division, Brig.-General Scrase-Dickins arranged to attack with the 6th K.O.S.B. on the right and the 10th H.L.I. on the left. These were supported respectively by the 11th H.L.I. and the 9th Scottish Rifles, and they held the front line till the evening before the 25th, when their places were taken by the attacking battalions; the 63rd Field Coy. R.E. and “D” Coy. 9th Seaforths also took up their assembly positions that night. Unfortunately the arrangements of the brigade were upset at the last moment by the Second Division taking over a portion of its line, the 28th Brigade being left with only one communication trench for the passage of troops and for “up” and “down” traffic. Ten minutes after the crash of our guns had announced the hour of zero, the German counter-bombardment fell on the front and communication trenches; the supporting companies and battalions, which were moving up from the rear trenches to the front, suffered serious losses, which included Lieut.-Colonel H. D. N. Maclean, D.S.O., and his adjutant, Captain Keith of the 6th K.O.S.B.

At 6.30 A.M. the 6th K.O.S.B. and 10th H.L.I. left our front line and advanced in three lines against the German trenches. On the right, the leading companies of the K.O.S.B., now commanded by Major Hosley, pressed forward, at first without suffering very severely. Major Hosley was wounded on the parapet but refused to go back, and insisted on leading his battalion forward. The wind unfortunately was fitful and was not strong enough to carry on the gas, so the leading companies lay down until it had moved on. As soon as the two supporting companies crossed our front parapet, they came under a withering rifle and machine-gun fire, but in spite of many casualties they continued to push on and became mingled with the leading companies. More conspicuous now than the crash of the guns was the menacing and ominous “rat-tat” of the enemy machine-guns, and when the K.O.S.B. resumed their advance, officers and men were mown down by a terrible fire, to which they could not reply. Nevertheless the survivors pressed on with magnificent determination, but the German wire was found to be virtually intact. In front of the enemy’s line was a covered trench crammed with stakes and barbed wire and as soon as the foremost men stepped on the top covering, they fell through and became entangled amongst the wire. The air teemed with bullets, and the survivors, impotent to advance but too stubborn to retreat, had very heavy losses. The battalion was now leaderless. Of the 19 officers who went into action, 12 were killed and 7 wounded, and as a consequence the brigade received no news from the battalion during the morning. It is believed that a few men, favoured by incredible luck, forced their way into the German front trench, but being unsupported they eventually fell back and reached our original front line during the night.

The 10th H.L.I. on the left of the brigade had no better fortune. As the wind was too weak to carry the gas forward from our trenches, many of the men were suffering from the effects of it when they left the front line. At the very start the ranks of the battalion were thinned by a storm of shell, rifle and machine-gun fire, a considerable number being killed and wounded on the parapet. With fine courage the men pushed on but were unable to penetrate the enemy’s wire, which had been scarcely damaged. Before vicious machine-gun fire from Madagascar Trench, Railway Work, and Mad Point, the attack melted away, and most of the survivors struggled back to the trenches from which they had set out, none having broken through the German wire. The losses in officers and men were exceptionally severe; Lieut.-Colonel Grahame was gassed and his adjutant killed. As the whole signalling staff of Battalion H.Q. had been knocked out by a shell, Brigade H.Q. were without definite news of the disaster until noon, when Major H. C. Stuart reported in person.

In war, no news invariably means bad news, and consequently during the early hours of the attack suspense and anxiety reigned at Brigade H.Q. The gloomy forebodings with which the absence of information had filled the minds of Brig.-General Scrase-Dickins and his staff were deepened by a message, received from the 9th Scottish Rifles at 8.15 A.M., that the 10th H.L.I. were asking for reinforcements. As it was also known at 7.50 A.M. that the attack of the Second Division on the left had failed, there was no longer any reason to doubt that the brigade had experienced a serious check. Anxiety about the situation on the front of the 28th Brigade had an unsettling effect on the plans of the Division. The 26th on the right had in the meantime made good progress, but General Thesiger hesitated to support it with the full strength of the 27th until he had definite information concerning his left brigade. At 9.10 A.M., however, the Division learned from a telephone message that the attack of the 28th Brigade had been repulsed.

Since this check exposed the 26th Brigade to the chance of a counter-attack from the north, the left brigade was ordered to launch another attack, and after a thirty minutes’ artillery bombardment the 11th H.L.I. on the right and the 9th Scottish Rifles on the left advanced against the enemy’s lines at 12.15 P.M. But the bombardment was not sufficiently heavy to demolish the German strong points, and the only effect of the hopeless gallantry of the “Rifles” and the H.L.I. was greatly to increase the enormous losses of the brigade. The attack was swept away by the enemy’s rifle and machine-gun fire. As the result of these two attacks the 28th Brigade had lost about two-thirds of its effective strength and the great majority of its officers had been killed or wounded. It was now unfit for further action and was withdrawn to its original line, which it was barely strong enough to hold effectively.