Neither the Thirty-sixth nor the Eighth Belgian Division attacked in force on the 30th. The former, under a smoke-screen put down by the 50th Brigade R.F.A., captured Hill 41 about 4.30 P.M., but was almost immediately expelled by a counter-attack. During the day it took over the line up to Klephoek Cross Roads from the 27th Brigade, which even after this adjustment was still holding 1000 yards south of the divisional boundary. The Belgians failed to secure St Pieter, and the Black Watch who co-operated were also stopped by severe machine-gun fire; thus by night the situation was unaltered, the Ninth continuing to occupy a sharp salient.
During the morning the artillery brigades sent forward one or two guns to give close support to the infantry, and one gun of B/51 Battery near Slypshoek was almost up to the front line. Between noon and 2 P.M. the 50th and 51st Brigades R.F.A. were in action in the area Strooiboomhoek-Slypskappelle-Spriethoek. The route taken by the 50th Brigade to reach its position was in full view of the enemy’s lines, but the movement was carried out without much interference. Constant and heavy rain fell throughout the day, and consequently there was complete dislocation of traffic on the Ypres-Zonnebeke road, with the result that no artillery ammunition could be brought up, and the ration wagons of some units remained on the road all night.
The troubles that beset us were now becoming formidable, and it was also clear that the enemy was rushing up fresh troops to dispute our further progress. General Tudor, convinced that isolated attacks were a mistake, as the experience of the Thirty-sixth Division and the Belgians on the 30th showed, rode over to see General Detail, G.O.C. of the Eighth Belgian Division, who agreed that if an attack was to be made it should be along the whole line. At the same time, General Detail declared that his division would not be able to make an assault for some days. Shortly afterwards orders arrived for a general onset at 6.15 A.M., the Ninth Division having as objective Ledeghem, thence due east to Cuerne and Harlebeke. The first objective of the Corps consisted of the villages of Ledeghem and Menin, and the line of the Railway between them. The frontage allotted to the Division was from Klephoek, east of Dadizeele, to St Pieter. The Ninth was ready, but, as shown above, the Belgians were unable to attack so soon. This was represented to the Corps, but communications were defective and very slow, speaking on the telephone was impossible, and time did not permit of a complete report of the situation reaching Corps H.Q. in time to postpone the operation. Knowing that the Belgians could not attack, though, as always, they were eager to help us in any way in their power, General Tudor acquainted them with the situation, and they agreed to safeguard our flank by conforming later if our efforts were successful. He also instructed Brig.-General Hore Ruthven, who was very anxious about his northern wing, to seize and consolidate the line of the Railway, but to go no farther unless the Belgians joined in the battle.
The position on our right also caused great uneasiness; so long as Hill 41 remained in German hands our advance on this flank was bound to be a precarious business, but it was understood that the Thirty-sixth Division would storm the Hill at 5.45 A.M.
The weather was still very disagreeable when at 6.15 A.M. on the 1st October, the assault was launched under cover of a smoke-barrage. It was delivered by the 27th Brigade, with the K.O.S.B., the 12th Royal Scots and a company of the 11th Royal Scots, and by the 26th Brigade with the Seaforths and Black Watch. On our right the enemy put down a heavy bombardment, but fortunately it fell principally behind the 27th Brigade. A few field-guns had been brought up to within 400 or 500 yards of the front line to engage Ledeghem and some scattered farms close to our front. The fire of these guns at short range, combined with the smoke-barrage, proved of immense value in helping the infantry to overpower the stout resistance which was at first encountered in and around the farm buildings. When that had been quelled, progress was continued with great rapidity, and for a time all opposition collapsed. The Lowland Brigade carried the whole of Ledeghem and speedily arrived at the line of the light railway 500 yards east of the village. On the left the Highland Brigade captured what turned out to be one of the last groups of German “Pill-boxes,” and also reached the light railway, while the Black Watch advancing as far as Rolleghem Cappelle penetrated the village and engaged hostile guns caught in the act of limbering up.
The opposition in front was insignificant, but the enemy, who had brought up fresh troops,[128] was quick to detect and take advantage of the weakness on our wings. On the right the K.O.S.B. had been harassed continuously from the start of the battle by machine-gun fire from Hill 41, which increased in volume as the Menin-Roulers Railway was approached. The Thirty-sixth Division had postponed its attack on the Hill, with fatal consequences to our right wing, and Dadizeelehoek, less than 1000 yards south of Ledeghem, appeared to be bristling with machine-guns. Lieut.-Colonel Smyth with admirable promptitude swung two of his companies to the right, with the intention of clearing Hill 41 from the north. But the manœuvre was foiled by an almost solid flow of lead from hostile machine-guns, and Lieut.-Colonel Smyth was obliged to use the greater part of his battalion in forming a defensive flank, while a field-gun, with bullets pattering against its shield, was brought up ready to fire at point-blank range as soon as the enemy counter-attacked.
On the left, as the Belgian forces had not yet advanced, Brig.-General Hore Ruthven had to employ his reserve battalion, the Camerons, in forming a defensive flank under scourging machine-gun fire.
“PILL-BOX” NEAR LEDEGHEM
At the outset of the battle the situation appeared to offer a distinct opportunity for cavalry[129] exploitation to widen the breach that had been made in the enemy’s line, but no force was available to move up immediately and the chance was lost. Very anxious about his left, General Tudor sent messages to the French Cavalry leader and the commander of the Eighth Belgian Division, requesting the former to send up without delay a regiment to Brig.-General Hore Ruthven’s H.Q. at Slypskappelle, and the latter to fill the gap that now existed between our left and its right. Word was also despatched to the Corps suggesting that any available troops should be sent up behind the Ninth to follow up success, and protect its flanks. At the same time General Tudor commanded the 28th Brigade, which since the 28th September had been out of the fighting line for little more than twenty-four hours, to be ready to guard the right flank.