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

by M.C. John Ewing

In the Sappers, Lieut.-Colonel Livingstone had been wounded, and the new C.R.E. was Lieut.-Colonel Carpenter.

The Division had barely time to scrape off the mud before it was ordered on the 29th September to proceed north to join the V. Corps in the Salient.[25] The move was carried through partly by route march and partly by rail. On the 3rd October, D.H.Q. were established at Hooggraaf, about two miles south of Poperinghe, and on the morning of the 5th the 26th and 27th Brigades relieved the Seventeenth Division in the trenches near Hill 60. The line taken over by the Ninth lay south of Zillebeke, and extended from north of Hill 60 to a point south of the Ypres-Comines Canal near Oosthoek. The enemy’s line ran along the higher ground, and the distance between the British and the German trenches varied from 25 to 400 yards. The salient feature on our front was The Bluff, which rose steeply from the ground on the north side of the Canal and completely dominated the sector.

During the three months that the Division remained in the salient it passed a time of almost unmitigated gloom and discomfort. As the days shortened and winter came on, hardly a day passed without rain, and mud was lord and sovereign over all. It seemed to suck away a man’s vitality and enthusiasm, and even a short march involved an expenditure of physical energy out of all proportion to the distance traversed. The whole of Flanders, engulfed in mud, had the aspect of an enormous swamp; and the leaden skies, in a sombre rain-grey monotint, were in harmony with the drab-coloured earth. Even the roads were ankle-deep in glutinous mud, and the constant traffic was often checked by stoppages caused by particularly bad parts. Thus the passage of the infantry to and from the trenches was like a feverish nightmare; for the men had to march about ten miles through clinging mire along roads choked with transport, and often shelled. The rest huts at Dickebusch and Canada Huts were dismal and repellent shelters; they were swept by draughts, and through their leaky roofs the rain dripped down on the disconsolate inmates. The area round them was one vast sea of mud, where it was impossible for a unit to carry out any training worth the name. Without constant training there is a tendency for discipline to be relaxed, and a man who is allowed to loll about as he pleases is apt to lose all smartness in himself and pride in his unit. As far as possible, everything was done to maintain strict discipline, and the A. & Q. department worked its hardest to secure baths for the men and clean changes of clothing, but in spite of this the rest huts were more demoralising than the front line, where the strictest trench discipline was upheld and where there was constant work to do.

This period was notable as the reign of the second lieutenant. For over a month every company in the 26th Brigade was commanded by one; and this was the case with most of the other battalions. At first this undoubtedly rendered the task of General Furse more difficult, since youth and gallantry do not form a complete substitute for knowledge and experience; but the apprenticeship and training in responsibility, which these months brought to the young officers, supplied him with a large body of keen, confident, and efficient leaders who were later to demonstrate their value at the Battle of the Somme.

The divisional commander was quick to make the most of his opportunities, and he resolved to fortify youth and keenness with knowledge and practice. On the 7th November he opened the Ninth Division School at Poperinghe, which served a double purpose in promoting training and in encouraging esprit de corps. By this means not only did the officers gain a real knowledge of their manifold duties, which it was impossible for them to acquire amongst the swamps at Dickebusch and Canada Huts, but also the company officers of one unit were brought into contact with those of other units, and thus mutual understanding and sympathy were created. The first commandant of the school was Lieut.-Colonel Loch who was assisted by Captain Drew, the adjutant of the 5th Camerons, and the instruction was both theoretical and practical. It is impossible to over-estimate the value of this school in increasing the efficiency of the Division.

Certainly the safest and in many ways the most desirable place during these winter months was the front line system. A battalion spent four days in the front line trenches, four days in support, and four in rest at Dickebusch or Canada Huts. The support positions had most of the discomfort without any of the safety[26] of the front line; they had little protection and were frequently shelled, many casualties being suffered. The most perilous spot on the route to the front line was Ypres. No man of British blood could walk through it without feeling a deep thrill of awe and reverence as he gazed on the ruins of the beautiful town, the name of which will ever be associated with the most heroic and imperishable feat of British valour and endurance. But it was no place to linger in; it formed a nexus of roads, and virtually the whole of the traffic between the trenches and the back areas had to pass through it. Hence it was constantly shelled by the enemy, and any body of men that succeeded in passing through it without loss was extremely fortunate. After the toilsome march, the trenches seemed a veritable haven of refuge. They were in fact partly trenches and partly breastworks; for it was impossible to dig to any depth, since water was quickly reached, and the parapets had to be raised high above the level of the ground to protect the men from enemy bullets. The high parapets made the line unpleasantly conspicuous, for they formed an easy mark for the enemy’s trench mortars and artillery, which had numerous posts for observation.

Between October and December the Division was gradually shifted from the south to the east of Zillebeke. The line taken over from the Seventeenth Division was held until the night of the 15th October, when the 27th Brigade on the right was relieved by the 72nd Brigade of the Twenty-fourth Division. On the day preceding the relief the Argylls had a tragic mishap. At 4 A.M. on the 15th the Germans exploded a mine about 25 yards in front of a trench not far from The Bluff. The explosion was very violent, and although the front trenches had been cleared in view of the known existence of hostile mines on this part of the line, heavy casualties were suffered in the support and communication trenches, 15 being killed and 50 wounded. On the same morning at 1.30 A.M. the enemy blew a small mine just outside the trenches held by the Camerons, who had 5 killed and wounded. During the night of the 16th/17th October the 28th Brigade took over the part of the line held by the 7th Brigade on the left of the 26th; this brought the northern limit of the Division to a point just east of Armagh Wood. A further rearrangement took place on the nights of the 8th/9th and 9th/10th November when the 27th Brigade took over the front line trenches east of Sanctuary Wood, which at that time still presented the appearance of a wood and was full of thick undergrowth.

These alterations brought changes in position without any in conditions, for all along the front the trenches were in a very bad state and could be maintained in tolerable order only by constant labour. After a shower of rain (and it always seemed to rain in the salient), there was the common story of dug-outs collapsed and parapets fallen in. At the best of times the trenches were ankle-deep in water; pumps were used, but they effected only a temporary improvement, because there was no place to which the water could be drained. Long thigh gum-boots were issued to the men, and these helped to keep their feet dry, though they could not make them warm. In spite of whale-oil and anti-frostbite grease, it is not surprising that many were evacuated to hospital suffering from trench feet. Want of sleep, perpetual cold, filth, and wet were the ordinary features of life; notwithstanding the coats of goatskin that were issued it was impossible for the men to keep warm. During a man’s short spell of sleep his feet became numb, and he was forced to get out of his shelter and stamp in order to restore circulation; and when he was awake he had to squelch about continually in mud, which plastered everything up to his head.

The sappers and pioneers did their utmost to improve matters, but as regards getting rid of the water their efforts were as the labours of Sisyphus. They revetted the trenches, made dug-outs, improved and kept in repair a light railway, which was used for bringing up rations and engineering materials, but more could have been done if the infantry had co-operated whole-heartedly with the sappers. The latter were a comparatively small body of skilled men, and they were supplied with working-parties from the infantry. The infantryman, however, believed that he was doing not his own job but the sapper’s, and he did as little as possible unless there was someone standing over him. This was the attitude not merely of N.C.Os. and privates, but of many officers, and in this respect there was a striking contrast to the German Army, where the private was taught to realise that in working under a sapper he was working for himself. It would have been well if the British soldier had been taught the same lesson from the beginning of his training. As it was, the work accomplished by an infantry party depended largely upon the infantry officer who was in charge of it, and too often he considered it the proper thing to let his men do as little as possible.

The position held by the Division from near The Bluff north of the Canal to Sanctuary Wood was about 5000 yards in length, which was a long line for a weak[27] division to hold. Most of the units were still far below strength, and when parties left the front line to bring up rations, the trenches appeared deserted. The line was commanded by the enemy along the entire front, and, lying in a salient, it was shelled from all sides. Any movement east of Ypres was impossible except after dark, and one dared not show a head in Zillebeke during the day. At some points the lines were so close that they could not be safely shelled except by trench mortars. At one part on the front of the 27th Brigade, where the trenches were only about 20 yards apart, the enemy occupied a position known as the “Birdcage.” It was a wooden framework with wire netting and a trap-door in the top. Whenever he was peevish, he opened the trap-door and heaved out a bomb, shutting the door after him. This contrivance was hit by a trench mortar on the 23rd November, but the Germans at once repaired it; however, it was blown to atoms five days later by a mine. The enemy had more guns and more ammunition, but a resolute effort was made by General Furse to dispute his artillery superiority by means of a “Retaliation Tariff.”[28] Whenever the enemy bombarded a part of our lines he was subjected to a bombardment of greater severity; this encouraged the infantry and stimulated the gunners, but failed to silence the Germans. Occasional bombardments also took place at such times as the enemy was suspected to be involved in a relief.