The history of the Twentieth (Light) Division

by Valentine Erskine Inglefield

During the night the 20th covered the withdrawal of the 30th and 61st Divisions, and then fell back in close contact with the enemy across the Somme Canal. Most of the fighting occurred on the front of the 60th Brigade. Brig.-General Duncan received the orders for this retirement at 10.45 P.M., and made repeated efforts to send them on to battalions, but, owing to the heavy fighting which was going on, none of the orderlies got through. All units, however, had been told what the plans were, and they successfully carried them out. At 11 P.M. the Germans, who had crept up close to the position under cover of a dense mist, drove a wedge between two companies of the 12th K.R.R.C. and got into the line of the 6th K.S.L.I., cutting off practically the whole of one company. Lieut.-Colonel Welch, commanding the 6th K.S.L.I., led the battalion headquarters forward to counter attack, but the enemy was found to be too strong. The companies of the K.S.L.I. were driven back in various directions, and the headquarters and most of the men became separated from the brigade until the afternoon of the 24th. The 12th R.B. particularly distinguished themselves; they inflicted very heavy casualties on the enemy and caused a stampede among his transport, which was moving down the main St Quentin—Ham road, but they lost their commanding officer, Lieut.-Colonel MacLachlan, who was killed while gallantly leading his men.

“D” Company of the 11th D.L.I. (Lieut.-Colonel Hayes) had been sent to reinforce the 61st Brigade. The rest of the battalion had come under the orders of the 60th during the afternoon, and by 8 P.M. had taken up a position between Tugny and Bray to fill a gap between the 61st and 60th Brigades. Soon afterwards the 12th King’s, on the left of the 61st Brigade, were forced back, leaving the right flank of the D.L.I. exposed. The enemy could be heard in Tugny shouting in English and making a lot of noise, and patrols sent out by the battalion found that he had worked round the right flank in the fog. About midnight “B” Company on the left was rushed from the right rear. A strong party of “A” Company on the right, under Capt. Endean, however, held out until the battalion was ordered to retire through Ham and hold the bridge-head at Offoy. By this time the enemy had broken through the line and the casualties were heavy; but leaving twenty men under 2nd Lieut. English as a rearguard with two Vickers guns on the main road, the remains of the battalion withdrew. Capt. Endean, two other officers, and forty men of “A” Company, although surrounded, fought their way through, and a small party of “B” Company, under C.S.M. Craggs, who was afterwards awarded the D.C.M., got back with the 12th R.B. and took part in the rearguard actions fought by that battalion. In the early hours of the 23rd, 97 men of “A” and “B” Companies were formed into one company under Lieut. Bushell and occupied the Offoy bridge-head.

The bridges over the Somme Canal were reported to have been prepared for demolition. The 83rd Field Company R.E. (Major Massie) and the 96th Field Company R.E. (Major Story), on arrival at the canal found that this work had been most inadequately done. In many cases the charges were far too small, the main girder at one bridge had been ignored, and some bridges had not been prepared at all. This, of course, threw a great deal of extra work on the field companies, as many new charges had to be laid. Where the existing charges were fired they failed to make complete gaps in the bridges; extra charges had to be laid afterwards, and by this means the work was satisfactorily completed.

By dawn on the 23rd the Division had successfully crossed the canal, the 83rd and 96th Field Companies R.E. had blown up the bridges, and the 60th Brigade on the right and the 59th on the left had occupied the line from Canizy to Béthencourt. At the same time the 92nd Field Artillery Brigade, which had helped to beat off heavy attacks on Roupy on the 22nd, rejoined the Division temporarily and came into action about one and a half miles south-east of Nesle, covering the crossings of the Somme opposite the front of the 60th Infantry Brigade. Divisional Headquarters was opened at Nesle, and the 20th Divisional Signal Company (Major Brace), whose signal lorry had been the last vehicle to cross at Ham, quickly established communications with brigades.

The 12th K.R.R.C. took over the defences opposite Offoy from the D.L.I., who then prolonged the line to the right as far as Canizy, where they were joined by 34 more men of “A” Company, under Capt. Endean. About 26 men of the K.S.L.I. and parties from various divisions joined the 60th Brigade on this flank. On the left were the 12th R.B. Brig.-General Duncan found a large number of men of the 30th Division holding the canal, and these he took under his command and placed in support on the railway. On the 59th Brigade front the 11th K.R.R.C. (Lieut.-Colonel Priaulx) held the line about Voyennes, with the Scottish Rifles (Lieut.-Colonel H. C. H. Smith) in the centre and the 11th R.B. (Lieut.-Colonel Cotton) on the left at Béthencourt.

The work of the R.E. was made particularly difficult at this time, as someone had set fire to the R.E. park at Chaulnes long before the enemy got anywhere near it. In consequence, for two or three days hardly any shovels or R.E. stores could be obtained. Parties went to the park with lorries but were unable to do very much good, owing to the great heat and to the impossibility of getting at much of the most necessary material. The 83rd and 96th Field Companies now joined their respective brigades, to which they had already sent two sections each, the 83rd going to the 60th Brigade and the 96th to the 59th Brigade.

The 60th, 61st and 62nd Field Ambulances had been attached respectively to the 59th, 60th and 61st Brigades, but during the successive retirements they had to deal with the casualties of many different units. Their work was splendid. Many times when communication was difficult and the situation uncertain, advanced dressing stations were established close to the front line and the wounded carried back, often under heavy fire, with great perseverance and courage.

On the 22nd, between 2000 and 3000 cases passed through a temporary aid post of the 60th Field Ambulance established at Matigny by Major C. A. Boyd before the post was abandoned at the last possible moment that night when the enemy was entering the village. Major Boyd and his party crossed at Voyennes just before the bridges were destroyed.

At 8 A.M. on the 23rd the enemy was reported to have broken through at Ham and to be advancing on Esmery Hallon, through which the 30th Division was retiring towards the Libermont Canal. Brig.-General Duncan was ordered to counter attack, and elements of the 182nd Brigade (61st Division) were placed at his disposal to assist this operation.

Lieut.-Colonel Bilton, of the 61st Division, was placed in command of the counter attack, and was assisted by Major A. E. Sanderson, the Brigade Major of the 60th Brigade. Lieut.-Colonel Bilton moved off with about 800 men and at 4 P.M. launched the attack from the main Ham—Nesle road, about 1500 yards west of Eppeville. The attack, delivered with great dash, drove back the enemy, captured Verlaines, and restored the situation.