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

by M.C. John Ewing

The whole of the 99th Brigade and most of the 26th, the right of which was just east of Hennois Wood, were in Third Army territory, and this was pointed out to the VII. Corps. An attack on this weak and far-stretched flank was to be dreaded, since it might drive these brigades north and north-west and break the front of the Division. Accordingly, General Tudor, having obtained permission from the V. Corps to order the right brigade of the Forty-seventh Division to take over our front north of Fins to north of Equancourt, delivered these instructions to it at 11.15 A.M. In the afternoon the 99th Brigade was transferred to the V. Corps, which was to extend its right flank down to the boundary between the Third and Fifth Armies, west of Manancourt.

In the afternoon the Germans launched a furious attack against the 26th and 99th Brigades, and succeeded in penetrating some distance between Brig.-General Kennedy’s Highlanders and Brig.-General Croft’s Lowlanders. The Twenty-first Division fell back to the south of Bouchavesnes, and the South Africans took up a position on the ridge east of that village to cover the right rear of the Ninth. Orders were then received from the Corps to take up a line from Bouchavesnes along the eastern edge of St Pierre Vaast Wood to a point south-east of Saillisel on the Third and Fifth Army boundary. This gave the Ninth a span of 6000 yards, and all three brigades were required to hold it because casualties had been numerous and the men were tired out by continual marching and fighting. General Tudor thereupon visited the South Africans, and gave orders to Brig.-General Dawson to retire after dusk from the Epine de Malassise to the ridge just west of Bouchavesnes, requesting him to tell Brig.-General Croft to withdraw his men to the east of St Pierre Vaast Wood. The new line was to be held at all costs. This message was never received by Brig.-General Croft, and when the South Africans commenced their retirement between 7 and 8 P.M. the right of the Lowland Brigade, thus left unprotected, was heavily attacked. At the same time the left wing of the Lowlanders was threatened by the enemy’s advance from Manancourt, and was out of touch with the Highlanders, whose right in the course of fierce fighting had been compelled to give way, and who, with their ammunition practically exhausted, were now occupying a line extending from a mile south of Mesnil-en-Arrouaise to a point 1000 yards west of the Beet Factory.

On leaving the South Africans, General Tudor hastened to see Brig.-General Kennedy, whose brigade he found in a critical position. Envelopment of both flanks appeared imminent, but as a withdrawal by daylight meant destruction, he instructed Brig.-General Kennedy to retire by 4 A.M. to a line in front of Saillisel. Returning to H.Q., he reported his action to Fifth Army H.Q., the VII. Corps then being on the move, and pointed out that, unless the Third Army could take over the front as far as its southern boundary according to arrangement, a gap would exist between the two armies after 4 A.M.

The crisis of the battle was swiftly approaching. The whole line of the Fifth Army was in flux, for General Gough, with weak and battered forces and no prospect of reserves, dared not risk an engagement, and the Germans seemed confident of victory, their infantry onslaughts being heralded by many “Hochs!” and bugle blasts. But our men showed marvellous control; time after time the enemy was allowed within 50 yards of our line, and then on the word of command a shower of well-aimed bullets abruptly halted him. During the night, in compliance with orders, the Lowland Brigade, with the 9th Seaforths attached since the 23rd, moved back to St Pierre Vaast Wood, where it repulsed with many losses several attacks before midnight. During this conflict the K.O.S.B. lost their commander, Lieut.-Colonel Smyth being wounded for the fifth time in the war. The hazardous and complicated move of the Highlanders was attended with wonderful fortune, and they came into line on a position extending from the northern corner of the wood across the ridge, on which stood the village of Saillisel. The Third and Fifth Armies were now separated, there being a space of fully 3000 yards between them. Nothing had been heard of the 99th Brigade since it had been attacked in the afternoon, but after midnight it was learned that it had been withdrawn to Rocquigny and Le Transloy. No troops arrived to hold the ground between Mesnil and the left of the Ninth, and fruitless efforts were made to establish connection with a brigade of the Seventeenth Division, which had been ordered by the V. Corps to take up a position west of Saillisel.

The great activity of the enemy on the night of the 23rd utterly precluded sleep. About 2 A.M. the troops of the Twenty-first Division on the right of the South Africans reported to Brig.-General Dawson that Cléry was in the hands of the enemy and that they were about to make a further retirement. The South Africans were on the right of the Ninth on the ridge west of Marrières Wood, the Lowlanders at St Pierre Vaast Wood and the Highlanders on the left. There was no reserve except the details of the Divisional R.E., and our front measured 9500 yards.

Before dawn the Highlanders, acting on a false report that the Lowland Brigade had been withdrawn, retired to the line of the Bapaume-Péronne road in order to secure touch with it. The message with this news took five hours to reach D.H.Q., now at Maurepas. Three tanks, which were at Combles, were ordered to proceed to a point between Marrières Wood and Rancourt to prevent the enemy penetrating between the South African and 27th Brigades. But it was too late.

At 8 A.M. vast hordes of Germans assailed the Lowland Brigade in front and on both flanks. The weight of attack was on the right wing, but the K.O.S.B., in brigade reserve south of Rancourt, were able to delay the enemy’s turning movement long enough to allow the other battalions of the brigade to be withdrawn from St Pierre Vaast Wood to a position covering Combles. This position had been rapidly taken up by details of the Divisional R.E. under the orders of Brig.-General Croft, and these troops aided by the three tanks helped to cover the retirement of the Lowlanders, and held their ground for over an hour. From there, greatly harassed by bombs and machine-gun fire from aeroplanes flying low and bearing British colours, the brigade withdrew first to Guillemont Ridge, and then to a position between Maricourt and the Somme, already occupied by the 9th Provisional Battalion.

Meanwhile the enemy delivered a series of blows, growing in fury, upon the South Africans from 9 A.M., and Brig.-General Dawson reported at 11.10 A.M. that he was being heavily attacked from south and west, but that his line was still intact. This was the last message received from the brigade.

When the South Africans were posted near Marrières Wood, they succeeded in gaining touch with the left of the Twenty-first Division, but, except for a company of the K.O.S.B., they failed to find the 27th Brigade. Brig.-General Dawson’s last instructions were to hold the position “at all costs,” and he explained to his battalion commanders the full significance of these words. The position contained one good trench and one or two poor ones, and there was a large number of shell-holes. The ground sloped downwards towards the east, and then rose to another ridge about 1000 yards from the front line. The men had each 200 rounds of ammunition and there was a fair supply of Lewis Gun drums, but the four Vickers Guns had only four belts, and three of these with their teams were accordingly sent back to the Transport. The strength of the brigade was only 500 all told, including the personnel of H.Q. and a detachment of the Machine-gun Battalion, while all ranks had been three nights without sleep, and were in a state of extreme fatigue from their physical exertions and the strain of the previous days.