The retirement of the 12th R.B. and the 6th K.S.L.I. to the original line was over by 2 P.M., and ended the day’s fighting. The operations had been successful in holding the enemy to his ground, and in preventing him from sending reinforcements to the scene of the main attack. The brunt of the fighting fell on the 12th R.B., who held on with great determination when their flanks had become exposed, and who throughout the day fought splendidly, thoroughly earning the congratulations sent them by the Divisional Commander.
The casualties were heavy considering the number of men actually engaged—19 officers, and 542 other ranks in all; the 12th R.B. alone lost 7 officers and 332 men; the 6th K.S.L.I. lost 4 officers and 59 men. During the day the enemy shelled the front trenches heavily, and caused a considerable number of casualties among some of the battalions that were not actively engaged. Of these the 12th K.R.R.C. suffered the most; they lost altogether 3 officers and 75 other ranks.
The 61st Field Ambulance (Lieut.-Colonel W. J. S. Harvey) which was attached to the 60th Brigade worked extremely well, and all the wounded were cleared during the day. Lieut. G. A. Maling, R.A.M.C., won the V.C. for his continuous bravery during these operations. He “worked incessantly from 6.15 A.M. on the 25th till 8 A.M. on the 26th, collecting and treating in the open under heavy shell fire more than 300 men. At about 11 A.M. on the 25th he was flung down and temporarily stunned by the bursting of a large high explosive shell which wounded his only assistant and killed several of his patients. A second shell soon after covered him and his instruments with débris, but his high courage and zeal never failed him, and he continued his gallant work singlehanded.”[1]
It was expected that there would be a renewal of the fighting the next day, but no further operations took place. On the contrary, a demonstration that had been ordered for the 27th was cancelled the afternoon before, and orders were issued that no gun ammunition of any kind was to be expended for the time being except to repel attack or for retaliation.
The casualties of the day’s fighting had materially reduced the strength of the 60th Brigade, and on the 26th the 11th D.L.I. (Pioneers) were attached as an extra battalion, and for the next six weeks took their turn with the other battalions of the brigade in the front line trenches. The excellent pioneer work that this battalion had done was marked by letters of appreciation received on the 28th from the C.E. IIIrd Corps and from the Corps Commander.
As Divisional reserve a brigade of the 23rd Division was attached to the 20th. This was later reduced to two battalions, but was not completely dispensed with until the 10th of November.
On the 28th the whole Division side-stepped about a mile to the right. This brought the right flank to a sunken road about half a mile north-east of Neuve Chapelle and the left to a point some quarter of a mile north of Rouge Bancs. The line was held by the three brigades in the same order as before, each brigade having two battalions in the front trenches.
The Divisional Artillery was now complete again, the 93rd Brigade and the sections of the 92nd having returned from Fleurbaix, and was divided into four groups. On the right was “Tyler’s Group,” which became “Ricardo’s Group” on the 11th of October, then the La Flinque and Laventie Groups with the Croix Blanche Group on the left.
The movements necessitated by this rearrangement of the Divisional front were much hindered by the state of the ground. There had been a good deal of rain in the last few days, and the communication trenches were thick in mud and in places nearly knee-deep in water. The night was very dark and the trenches—especially in the area taken over from the Meerut Division—were complicated by the labyrinth of assembly and forming-up places which had been made for the attack on the 25th. The relief was completed by 3.30 A.M. on the 29th, though minor adjustments were made the next day.
At one point in the 59th Brigade front the line took a sudden turn back for a short distance and then ran on in its original direction. A corner was thus left which at night might very easily come under fire from further down the line. To prevent this a red lamp was hung out every night at the corner of the trench, which so came to be known as the Red Lamp Salient.