Thus the general situation towards the end of September was full of promise for the Allies, and Marshal Foch and Sir Douglas Haig, realising that a continuation of our pressure was bound to overwhelm the armies of the adversary, arranged for four simultaneous and convergent attacks against his sagging line.
The first was to be delivered by the Americans, who had already flattened out the St Mihiel salient, and was to be in the Woeuvre in the general direction of Mezières; the second by the French west of the Argonne with the same general goal as the Americans; the third on the Cambrai-St Quentin front by the Fourth, Third, and First British Armies in the direction of Maubeuge; and the fourth on the 28th September by the Belgian and Second British Armies in the direction of Ghent.
The Ninth, being in the Second Army, was thus to take part in the Flanders campaign. In billets, first near Wardrecques and later in the neighbourhood of Esquelbec, the men for over three weeks were resting and training, but the elation caused by their triumphs near Meteren and the daily reports of fresh victories made them burn to join in the final onset. On the 11th September the Division was transferred from the XV. to the II. Corps, and the 26th Brigade took over the front between the Ypres-Menin and Ypres-Zonnebeke roads from the Fourteenth Division on the 20th September.
Our front line ran approximately from Hell-fire Corner on the right to Mill Cot, rather more than a mile east of Ypres. East of this line the ground was low-lying and marshy, but rose gradually on the right to Bellewarde Ridge, and thence to the Westhoek-Frezenberg Ridge, which extended across the divisional front from south to north. From Stirling Castle, a mile south of Westhoek, the main Passchendaele Ridge ran north of Broodseinde to the village of Passchendaele. Between the Frezenberg Ridge and the Noordemdhoek-Broodseinde sector of the main ridge, two small but important underfeatures ran north-west; these were known as Anzac Ridge and Glasgow Spur, the former being separated from the Frezenberg Ridge by the tiny stream of the Hanebeek in a very boggy valley, which had been heavily wired. Since the desperate battles of 1917, the sector had experienced unusual repose, and the wilderness of shell-holes was now covered by long rank grass.
The Ninth being on the left flank of the Second Army was in close liaison with the Belgians. The co-ordination of artillery arrangements naturally presented complications, but ultimately it was decided that while the Belgians should open with a three hours’ preliminary bombardment before zero, the Ninth would attack under cover of its customary creeping barrage, commencing at zero. There was less difficulty as regards the Twenty-ninth Division on our right, though a pause of fifteen minutes after the capture of Bellewarde Ridge was necessary to allow that division after passing through Sanctuary Wood to reorganise, preparatory to storming Stirling Castle.
The final objective of the Ninth for the first day extended from the southern end of Polygone de Zonnebeke to a point about 500 yards south of Broodseinde. Before this line was reached a series of ridges had to be secured, Frezenberg, Anzac, and Glasgow Spur. Batteries of artillery were to move forward as each height was taken, so that an effective barrage might be maintained throughout the advance. The assailing troops were the 28th Brigade on the right and the 26th on the left, the former with the “Rifles” and the Royal Scots Fusiliers in line, and the latter with the Seaforths and Black Watch[123]; the Newfoundlanders and Camerons were in reserve. Lieut.-Colonel Lumsden of the “Rifles” was ill and had a very high temperature on the eve of the battle, but this officer, who had never missed an action since he crossed to France with the Division in 1915, refused to go sick. The 27th Brigade was to follow in support, and its rôle was to depend on the situation at the close of the day. Each brigade had a company of the Ninth Machine-Gun Battalion attached to it, the remaining company being in divisional reserve. Zero was at 5.25 A.M.
A big victory was expected and with good reason. Defeats in the south had caused the enemy to thin the garrison in front of Ypres, but the nature of the ground with frequent “Pill-boxes” and scattered belts of wire was likely to retard our advance. The Germans who opposed us were the 11th and 12th Bavarian and the 10th Saxon Divisions; they were alert but nervous, and numerous low flying aircraft carried out reconnaissances over our front system. There was a regrettable mishap on the 26th. A stray shell hit the H.Q. of the Camerons; Lieut.-Colonel Inglis was wounded, and Major Cameron, Captain Fraser, the adjutant, and six others of Battalion H.Q. were killed. Lieut.-Colonel A. W. Angus then joined the Division, and was sent up to command the Camerons. Since the 9th April 1917 our men had never been in better spirit, and when the troops assembled for the attack on the night of the 27th/28th September, they were full of confidence.
CHAPTER XV
FROM YPRES TO LEDEGHEM
28th September to 14th October 1918
Three hours before zero on the 28th September the Belgians commenced their preliminary bombardment, which on our front provoked little retaliation. Heavy rain was falling and it was the dark hour before dawn, when at 5.25 A.M. our leading infantry advanced to the attack over the slippery and shell-pitted ground. The 28th Brigade was on a front of 700[124] yards and the 26th on one of 1200.