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

by M.C. John Ewing

The nature of the fighting lent itself to individual exploits, and two V.Cs. were given to the Division, one being awarded to Captain Reynolds and the other to Lance-Corporal W. H. Hewitt of the 2nd South African Regiment. He tackled a “Pill-box” single-handed, and on attempting to enter the doorway was severely wounded by the defenders; undaunted, he crawled to a loophole, and though wounded again pushed a bomb through the embrasure, the explosion of which dislodged the Germans. Numerous feats of a similar nature were performed by the men of all battalions, and the excellent understanding between the members of sections was a source of legitimate gratification to all responsible for the training of the men.

The line captured was held by the Division until the 24th September. The “Pill-boxes” provided a welcome shelter during the fierce gusts of artillery-fire; but their interiors were disgustingly squalid, and the floors were a foot or more under water. The Argylls and Camerons relieved the 2nd and 1st South African Regiments on the left, while the “Rifles” and K.O.S.B. held the right front. During this period there were violent storms of artillery-fire but there was no infantry action.

A deep gloom was cast over the whole Division by the news of the death of Brig.-General Maxwell on the 21st. Since taking over the command of the 27th Brigade in October 1916 he had been one of the outstanding personalities in the Ninth. Daring to a fault, he was a soldier with real gifts of generalship, and it was a sad calamity that death prevented his brilliant talents receiving fuller scope in a higher command. He was one from whose manner and bearing all plucked courage and confidence; in the glamour of his presence, his unfailing courtesy, and the opulence of his ideas lay the secret of the love and respect with which he was regarded by all his subordinates. Too great a disregard of personal danger led to his death; in his anxiety to ascertain that all was right on his front he exposed himself freely, and was shot by a sniper at 40 yards’ range. His habitual hardihood had been a constant source of anxiety to his staff, but it was one of the qualities that raised him above criticism in the eyes of the men. Courage begets courage, and within a few weeks of his coming Brig.-General Maxwell had made the 27th one of the finest fighting brigades in France. His spirit lived among the men after his death, and his teaching and training remained a fount of inspiration to all ranks of the 27th Brigade.

The action of the 20th September was one of the most satisfactory in which the Ninth took part. Though the number[91] of prisoners taken was not large and the space of ground gained inconsiderable, the operation was the first to reap satisfactory results against Von Armin’s system of defence, and it encouraged the Higher Command to continue the campaign in spite of the lateness of the season. Communications throughout the battle had been wonderfully good, and though telephone wires could be maintained only with difficulty on account of shell-fire, messages were received by means of pigeons, lamps, and runners. The arrangements of the R.A.M.C. were effective and adequate, and the extra stretcher-bearers furnished by the infantry enabled the wounded to be rapidly evacuated from the forward areas. The H.E. and smoke-barrage required no justification in the eyes of the Ninth, but its success attracted the attention of higher authorities and led to its being employed by the Third and Fifty-ninth Divisions in the engagement of the 26th September.

On the 24th September after being relieved by the Third Division, the Ninth moved to Arneke and neighbouring villages, where the men were practised for their next engagement, which, if all went well, was expected to bring us near Westroosebeke. The new leader of the 27th Brigade was Brig.-General Croft, who was recalled from the brigade to which he had been appointed just before the September battle. As C.O. of the 11th Royal Scots he had been with the Division since December 1915, and no man was more likely to keep the high standard which his predecessor had set. Realising the value of a distinctive name, he caused his brigade to be known by the term “Lowland” as well as by its number. The spell of good weather that set in during the latter part of September did not last, and rain fell almost continuously from the 6th October onwards. On the 5th the Division was ordered to concentrate in the area of the XVIII. Corps,[92] and under the most depressing conditions it was transferred to the vicinity of Brake Camp, the infantry arriving late on the night of the 9th. For many of the men there was no shelter from the rain, and bivouacs and tents had to be hastily erected on the sodden ground. No camps in the whole British line were more dismal than those round Ypres, sloppy with mud and persistently bombed by the enemy’s aeroplanes. So serious were the effects of bombing that all tents and horse lines were encircled by ramparts of earth to localise the explosions. On the night of the 10th/11th the Highland Brigade relieved the 144th (Forty-eighth Division) in the line near Poelcapelle, and the Ninth received orders for an attack on the 12th October.

The scene of battle was the low, flat country near the northern end of the Passchendaele Ridge. Along the left boundary of the Division ran the Lekkerboterbeek stream, and though the whole area was studded with fortified farms and houses, there were no clear landmarks. Since the 20th September performance had lagged far behind programme, and Westroosebeke lay beyond our immediate grasp. There were three objectives[93]; the first two (the Yellow Dotted and the Blue Dotted Lines) were to be taken by the Highland Brigade, and the final one (the Dotted Purple Line) by the Lowland. The leading battalions of the 26th, the Black Watch[94] and Argylls, each on a two-company front, were to capture a subsidiary objective (Green Line) and the Yellow Dotted Line, after which the Seaforths and Camerons[95] were to pass through and go on to the Blue Dotted Line, while the final attack was allotted by Brig.-General Croft to the 12th[96] and 11th Royal Scots. The assault was on a very wide frontage for a brigade, and necessitated considerable gaps between sections. The barrage was to move at the rate of 100 yards every eight minutes, with a pause on the first and second objectives, and 16 Vickers Guns were to form a machine-gun barrage and were also to support the infantry with covering-fire. On the flanks of the Ninth the attack was to be carried on by the New Zealand Division on the right and the Eighteenth Division on the left. Zero was 5.35 A.M.

About midnight on the 11th, the weather broke down completely, and the march of the battalions of the 27th Brigade under torrents of rain along the slippery duckboards to their assembly positions was one prolonged ordeal. The forming-up positions were heavily barraged with gas and H.E. by the enemy’s guns; many of the taping parties were killed or wounded, and all had to wear their respirators for several hours. The assembly was in consequence a difficult matter, and slight confusion arose before the men were placed in their correct positions.

At 5.35 A.M. our barrage opened, but was thin and ragged. The leading men lost direction almost at once, owing to the wide frontage and the execrable condition of the ground. The right company of the Black Watch, by the aid of skilful Lewis Gun and rifle-fire, rushed Adler Farm, captured several prisoners, and though some casualties were sustained reached its objective on the Green Line. But the left company ran into our own barrage, and inclining to the left, made a gap between it and the right company; it was under fire the whole way and was compelled to dig-in a few hundred yards in front of our original line. The company, which was to pass this one on the Green Line, also swung to the left to such an extent that it came up on the left of the leading company; from the very commencement it was in trouble, and its commander and H.Q. were all knocked out in an attempt to rush a “Pill-box.” Meantime the right rear company, passing through its front one, reached Source Trench near the Yellow Dotted Line.