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

by M.C. John Ewing

“That night, a child might understand,

The Deil had business on his hand.”

Amid such turmoil and desperate haste it was inevitable that several parties should go astray, and material should be lost. The South African company of Captain Green near Gauche Wood and a company of the 11th Royal Scots at Revelon Farm had never a chance of escape and were overwhelmed. A platoon of the Seaforths under Lieut. Cameron had been left in the Yellow System by mistake, but at 10 P.M. with amazing coolness this young officer piloted his men through groups of the foe and brought back 18 prisoners, including an officer. The guns, which had covered the withdrawal up to the last moment, firing over open sights, had caused dreadful havoc among the hostile infantry, and were all brought out except a forward anti-tank gun, one which was bogged, and ten field-guns of the two batteries of the 150th A.F.A. Brigade, the teams of which failed to turn up in time. All the abandoned pieces were rendered useless.

During the night the K.O.S.B., the remaining three companies of the 11th Royal Scots, and the 63rd and 90th Field Companies occupied Nurlu and the Green Line, as far south as Epinette Wood. The 9th Seaforths and the 64th Field Company moved into divisional reserve in Vaux Woods, north of Moislains.

General Tudor, who had transferred his H.Q. to Moislains at 3 P.M., had extricated his force from one danger only to be confronted by another equally critical. He had been most punctilious in his reports to the Forty-seventh Division in order to avoid any misunderstandings about his left flank, and to give that division timely warning of the measures to be adopted to maintain liaison. But in spite of his precautions complications arose. The staff officer he had sent to inform it of our withdrawal to the Green Line returned with the message that the Forty-seventh was going to retire to the Brown Line only, and was not prepared to accept responsibility for connecting up its right on the Brown Line with our left on the Green Line. This was a most awkward contretemps, and General Tudor at once informed the Corps Commander, who promised to arrange matters with the V. Corps, to which the Forty-seventh belonged. Shortly before 7 P.M. the point was again referred to, when the Ninth was advised that the Third Army was also to withdraw to the Green Line. Accordingly at 7.30 P.M. the exact position of our troops was reported to the Forty-seventh Division, which informed us that the 99th Brigade was at Manancourt and Equancourt in reserve. This brigade was placed under the orders of the Ninth at 9.10 P.M., and one of its battalions was ordered to extend from the left of the 26th Brigade to a point about 1000 yards north of Fins. The stretch of front held by the Division, with the 99th Brigade attached, on the night of the 22nd/23rd amounted to 7500 yards. No touch was established with the units on either flank, but the V. Corps promised that its troops would link up with the 99th Brigade at 5 A.M. on the 23rd, while the Twenty-first Division stated that it was holding up to the north-eastern end of Epinette Wood.

Thus the prospects on the night of the 22nd were uncertain and disquieting. The onus of anxiety had hitherto come from the south, but from now onwards the gate[107] between the Fifth and Third Armies began to be pressed open, and offered a glorious chance of sweeping victory to the enemy. And the course of events forced the Ninth to become the guardians of the door, which it held by the gallantry of its men and the skill of its leaders, until reinforcements were available. On the evening of the 22nd the divisions in the Flesquières salient had been violently attacked at Villers-Plouich and Havrincourt, and though the assaults had been beaten off with great slaughter they hindered the retreat of the Third Army in a south-westerly direction. The V. Corps, pushed away from its boundary, failed to link up with the Ninth at 5 A.M. on the 23rd as arranged, so that a co-ordinated retirement by the two armies was impossible.

It must be borne in mind that throughout the retreat the men suffered constantly from want of sleep, and supplies being inevitably irregular, they had to endure frequently the pangs of hunger and thirst.

Unfriendly mist again bathed the battlefield at dawn on the 23rd. Orders were received at 5.26 A.M. to hold the Green Line with rearguards only, and to withdraw the remainder to a line east of Moislains and along the eastern edge of Vaux Woods, the retirement of the rearguards to conform with that of the troops on our right. The movement was necessary owing to a breach in the Green Line farther south, but it added enormously to the territory of the Ninth, which, being obliged to keep in touch with the Forty-seventh Division west of Fins, now had the vast frontage of 11,000 yards.

Before the orders for retreat reached the front line troops, the enemy launched a resolute assault against the Green Line under an artillery and trench-mortar barrage. On the left it was repulsed, but the right of the Division was turned by Germans who swarmed through Epinette Wood, and only a brilliant rearguard action by Captain Cockburn enabled the K.O.S.B. to extricate themselves from a critical position. The South Africans retired undisturbed to divisional reserve on a ridge east of Bouchavesnes, but the Highlanders and Lowlanders passed through a fiery ordeal.

The retreat had to take place in broad daylight under strong pressure and without the support of the guns, which had to be conveyed across the Canal du Nord, but it was slowly and skilfully carried out, and appalling losses were inflicted on the pursuers. The men behaved like veterans, and the Sappers took their place with the infantry. Brig.-General Kennedy never received the orders to retire, and his Highlanders commenced to retreat only when the enemy was in Nurlu and shared the same trenches. Admirably covered by two companies of the Seaforths and two companies of the Camerons, the brigade shook itself free. The covering force counter-attacked the Germans, and the Seaforths meeting them with the bayonet hurled them back into Nurlu. As a result of this fine effort, the Highlanders successfully effected their retirement to the ridge behind Equancourt and Manancourt which extended from the Beet Factory to Hennois Wood. For the 26th Brigade there was only one bridge at Manancourt across the Canal, which here was full of water, and some of the Black Watch had to swim, but by 2 P.M. the whole Division was safely behind the Canal du Nord from Moislains to the Beet Factory north of Etricourt, with the 99th Brigade, about 750 strong, continuing the line to the north of Fins, where it was in touch with the Forty-seventh Division. The position was a strong one and had been reconnoitred the previous evening by General Tudor, but the vast extent of front could not be held as a continuous line, and touch between the various units was at all times precarious.