A Short History of the 6th Division

T >> Thomas Owen Marden >> A Short History of the 6th Division

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9

Note: Images of the original pages are available through
Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries. See
http://www.archive.org/details/hist6thdivision00marduoft

Transcriber's note:

Obvious printer's errors have been corrected.

The original spelling has been retained.

Page 76: Two instances of AAA left by the printer have
been replaced by dots.

Explanations of British/Canadian military abbreviations
can be found at
http://www.1914-1918.net/abbrev.htm
and
http://www.wakefieldfhs.org.uk/military%20abbrevations.shtml

A SHORT HISTORY OF THE 6th DIVISION

Aug. 1914-March 1919

Edited by

MAJOR-GEN. T. O. MARDEN
C.B., C.M.G.

London
Hugh Rees, Ltd.
5 & 7 Regent Street, S.W.1
1920

PREFACE

This short history has been compiled mainly from the War Diaries.

My reason for undertaking the task is that there was no one else to do
it, the units composing the Division being scattered far and wide, and
there being no Divisional habitat with local historians as in the case
of Territorial and New Army Divisions. My object is that all who
served with the Division for any period between 1914-1919 may have a
record to show that they belonged to a Division which played no
inconspicuous part in the Great War.

I regret that it has been impossible to tabulate the honours (except
V.C.s) won by officers and men of the Division, and it is also
inevitable that the names of many individuals to whom the success of
the Division in many operations was largely due should go unrecorded.
The Infantry naturally bulk large in the picture, but they would be
the first to admit that their success could not have been obtained
without the splendid co-operation of the Artillery, who are sometimes
not even mentioned in the narrative; and this theme might be
elaborated considerably.

My particular thanks are due to Lt.-Col. T. T. Grove, C.M.G., D.S.O.,
R.E., to whom the credit belongs for the form taken by the history and
the more personal portions of the history itself. I also wish to
thank Lt.-Gen. Sir J. Keir, K.C.B., D.S.O., and Major-Gen. C. Ross, C.B.,
D.S.O., as well as several Brigadiers and C.O.s, for so kindly
reviewing the periods of which they had personal knowledge.

In conclusion, I wish to add that every copy sold helps towards the
erection of Battlefield Memorials to be placed in France and Flanders.

T. O. MARDEN,
_Major-General._
_April 1920._

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I. MOBILIZATION AND MOVE TO FRANCE 1

II. BATTLE OF THE AISNE 3

III. MOVE TO THE NORTH AND FIRST BATTLE
OF YPRES 6

IV. ARMENTIERES 10

V. YPRES SALIENT 13

VI. THE SOMME 20

VII. LOOS SALIENT 28

VIII. CAMBRAI 35

IX. GERMAN OFFENSIVE OF MARCH 1918 44

X. YPRES SALIENT AGAIN 53

XI. THE ALLIED OFFENSIVE IN THE SOUTH 58

XII. THE MARCH TO THE RHINE AND OCCUPATION
OF GERMANY 76

APPENDIX

I. BATTLE CASUALTIES 81

II. V.C.s WON BY THE DIVISION 82

III. DIARY 85

IV. ORDERS OF BATTLE ON MOBILIZATION AND ON
11th NOVEMBER 1918 102

V. CHANGES IN COMMANDS AND STAFFS 109

A SHORT HISTORY OF THE 6th DIVISION

CHAPTER I

MOBILIZATION AND MOVE TO FRANCE

1914

The Division mobilized with its Headquarters at Cork--two brigades in
Ireland, namely, the 16th Infantry Brigade at Fermoy, and the 17th
Infantry Brigade at Cork, and one Infantry Brigade--the 18th--at
Lichfield. Divisional troops mobilized in Ireland. The order for
mobilization was received at 10 p.m. on the 4th August 1914.

On the 15th August units mobilized in Ireland commenced embarkation at
Cork and Queenstown for England, and the Division was concentrated in
camps in the neighbourhood of Cambridge and Newmarket by the 18th
August.

The period from the 18th August to the 7th September was one of hard
training. Those who were with the Division at that time will also
remember, with gratitude, the many kindnesses shown them by the people
of Cambridge; the canteens and recreation rooms instituted for the
men, and the hospitality shown by colleges and individuals to the
officers. They will remember, too, their growing impatience to get
out, and their increasing fear that the Division would arrive too
late.

On the 7th September, however, entrainment for Southampton commenced,
and on the 9th the first troops of the Division disembarked at St.
Nazaire.

From St. Nazaire a long train journey, which the novelty of the
experience robbed of its tediousness, took the Division a short
distance east of Paris, where it concentrated in billets in the area
Coulommiers--Mortcerf--Marles--Chaume by the 12th September.

CHAPTER II

BATTLE OF THE AISNE

1914

The period 13th to 19th September was spent in the march to the Aisne,
where the Division arrived at a time when a certain amount of anxiety
was felt by the Higher Command. The 5th French Army on the right, the
British Army in the centre, and the 6th French Army under General
Maunoury on the left, had pushed the Germans back across the Marne,
and on the 14th September the British troops had crossed the Aisne on
the front Soissons-Bourg--the I Corps at Bourg, the II Corps at Vailly
and Missy, and the III at Venizel. The French right attack from the
direction of Rheims and the British attack by the I Corps had
progressed much faster than the left, and had reached the heights on
the line Craonne-Troyon, astride the famous Chemin des Dames. These
were now the objective of fierce attacks by the Germans, and the 6th
Division, which had been allotted originally to the III Corps, was put
into General Reserve instead, only the artillery joining the III
Corps. The units of the I Corps were very tired and weakened after the
big retreat from Mons and the subsequent hard fighting on the Marne
and Aisne, so immediately on its arrival the 18th Infantry Brigade
(Brig.-Gen. W. N. Congreve, V.C.) was ordered to relieve the 2nd
Infantry Brigade on the right of the British line. The front taken
over ran diagonally from north-east to south-west along the high
ground just south of the Chemin des Dames to the north and north-east
of Troyon. The East Yorks on the left relieved in daylight on the 19th
September the D.L.I., and the West Yorks during the night of the
19/20th September. The West Yorks had two companies in front
trenches, one company echeloned in right rear and one company in
support. The Sherwood Foresters were in reserve.

At dawn on the 20th September, the enemy delivered a heavy attack on
the I Corps and on the French left, driving in the Tirailleurs
d'Afrique and turning the flank of the West Yorks. The echeloned
company formed front to the flank, and the supporting company followed
suit. The Germans annihilated the right front company, and, using the
white flag ruse, apparently captured some of the next company. Major
Ingles, collecting a proportion of the front companies, withdrew a
short distance and counter-attacked, but was unsuccessful and lost his
life in this gallant endeavour. At about 1 p.m. a counter-attack was
delivered by the Sherwood Foresters, who were in Brigade Reserve, the
support company of the West Yorks, under Lt.-Col. Towsey, and a
squadron of the 18th Hussars from Paissy. These, advancing over the
perfectly open ground, recaptured the trenches and gallantly held them
against further attacks. In this affair the West Yorks suffered
casualties amounting approximately to 15 officers and 600 other ranks,
the Sherwood Foresters also losing 12 officers and 180 other ranks.
The temporary loss of the trenches by the West Yorks exposed the
trenches of the D.L.I, to enfilade machine-gun fire, from which they
had considerable casualties, including Majors Mander and Robb. This
was the only serious fighting in which the Division was engaged, but a
certain amount of trouble was caused by the arrival of guns from
Antwerp which fired "Black Marias," and the enfilade gun and
machine-gun fire to which portions of the main line lent themselves.

On the 21st September the 17th Infantry Brigade (Brig.-Gen. W. R. B.
Doran) relieved the 6th Infantry Brigade and the 4th Guards Brigade on
the front Fort de Metz-La Cour de Soupir, and held the portion without
much incident till 2nd October, when they were withdrawn into
Corps Reserve.

The 16th Infantry Brigade (Brig.-Gen. E. C. Ingouville-Williams)
relieved the 7th and 9th Infantry Brigades to the north-east of Vailly
on the 21st/22nd September, and remained in trenches until 12th
October, some time after the rest of the Division had gone north. They
received the thanks of the II Corps for their soldierly conduct. The
divisional artillery (Brig.-Gen. W. H. L. Paget) was in support of the
5th Division opposite Missy, but only the 2nd Brigade was engaged. It
had already been re-organized since mobilization by the inclusion, in
each of 12th, 24th and 38th Brigades, of a battery of 4.5-in.
howitzers.

The Battle of the Aisne marked the commencement of trench warfare, and
the Royal Engineers (Lt.-Col. G. C. Kemp, C.R.E.) were employed to
some extent in wiring at night.

CHAPTER III

MOVE TO THE NORTH AND FIRST BATTLE OF YPRES

1914

The diminishing pressure of the Germans on the Aisne had made it
evident that an attempt by them to reach the Channel ports would be
made very soon. This would best be frustrated by an outflanking
movement of the Allies to the north, with the ultimate aim of joining
hands with the Belgian Army at that time holding Antwerp. Sir John
French was most anxious to place the British Army in its original
position on the left of the French, as it was based on Boulogne,
Calais and Dunkirk.

The II British Corps was the first to move from the Aisne and
prolonged the French line towards La Bassee; the I and III Corps
extending inwards to relieve it. Next followed the III Corps, relieved
by the French and destined to take its place north of the II Corps
towards Bailleul.

The Cavalry Corps advanced north of the III Corps towards Kemmel, and
at a later date the I Corps, handing over to the French, was moved
towards Ypres, while the 7th Division, just arrived in France, was
directed on Menin.

The III Corps consisted of the 4th and 6th Divisions under Lt.-Gen.
Pulteney. The period 6th to 9th October was occupied in the march to
the entraining station near Compiegne. The Division detrained at St.
Omer on 10th October, and was joined by the 19th Infantry Brigade
(Brig.-Gen. Hon. F. Gordon), which remained with it until 31st May
1915. The battalions composing this brigade were 2nd R.W.F., 1st
Cameronians, 1st Middlesex, 2nd A. and S. Highlanders. The 5th
Cameronians were added on 19th November 1914.

On the 12th October the Division marched to Hazebrouck, where it
covered the detrainment of the 4th Division and came into touch with
the enemy. The latter, consisting of two Cavalry Divisions with some
Jaeger (Rifle) Battalions, and at least one Division of the XIX Corps,
were fighting a rearguard action until such time as they should be
reinforced. The character of the advance may be illustrated by an
incident on the 14th October, when a platoon of the 1st R.F. (of the
Reserve Brigade) was detailed to rescue General Keir's car, which had
run into snipers near Merris. Fortunately the G.O.C. was not in it.
The reinforcement by the enemy occurred on the 20th October, on which
date began the Battle of Ypres-Armentieres, generally called the First
Battle of Ypres. As far as the Division was concerned this took place
on the western portion of the ridge between Armentieres and Lille, and
resulted in the Division being forced back from the line
Preniesques-Radinghem (almost on top of the ridge) to the low ground
Rue du Bois-La Boutillerie after very fierce continuous fighting from
20th to 31st October, in which the Division suffered nearly 4,000
casualties. To revert, on 13th October the III Corps advanced with the
4th Division on the left and the 6th Division on the right. An action
took place on the line of the Meteren Brook, commencing at 1 p.m. and
continuing till dark, when the 17th and 18th Infantry Brigades had
captured Meteren and Bailleul with about 400 casualties. Pushing
forward, the 17th Infantry Brigade crossed the River Lys at Bac St.
Maur, and the 18th Infantry Brigade at Sailly on the night 15/16th
October, and approached on the 17th the ridge west of Lille, where the
enemy were reported to be entrenched. The 16th Infantry Brigade now
rejoined the Division from the Aisne, and on the 18th October a
reconnaissance in force was ordered, which was brilliantly carried
out. The Buffs and Y. and L. on the right captured Radinghem
without much opposition, and advanced across a small plateau, 300
yards in width, towards the woods in which stands the Chateau de
Flandres. They here came under a heavy cross-fire of machine-guns and
shrapnel, and were counter-attacked and driven back. The situation,
however, was saved by Major Bayley's company of the Y. and L., which
had worked round on the left and threatened the flank of the
counter-attack, which thereon withdrew. The Y. and L. suffered
considerable casualties in this little action--Major Robertson being
killed. Meanwhile the 18th Infantry Brigade had captured Ennetieres
and the south end of Capinghem, while the 17th Infantry Brigade
reached Premesques, but was unable to take Perenchies. The 4th
Division had not been able to cross the Lys north of Armentieres,
which necessitated the 17th Infantry Brigade throwing back its flank
to l'Epinette. On the 19th October the Division entrenched on the line
it had won. To the right were French cavalry and cyclists, covering
the gap between the right of the III Corps and the left of the I Corps
near Aubers. The advance from Hazebrouck to the ridge had occupied six
days, and cost the Division some 750 casualties.

On the morning of the 20th October the Germans attacked very heavily
on the whole front. Fighting on a very extended front (five miles) and
with very little in hand, the Division was soon in difficulties,
particularly on the exposed left flank, where the Leinsters had their
three left companies quickly driven in, and the situation at midday
was critical. One company with the machine-guns was able to hold on
until the afternoon at Mont de Premesques, and to withdraw under cover
of darkness, having inflicted heavy loss on the enemy. Meanwhile units
of other brigades were putting up a gallant fight against great odds,
each unit generally with one or both flanks unsupported. At
Ennetieres, which formed rather a salient, the Sherwood Foresters held
out all day, but were attacked at dusk by three battalions and
practically annihilated or captured, only the CO., Adjutant, Q.M. and
250 other ranks remaining the next day.

The Buffs, after a splendid fight, were driven out of Radinghem, and
by night the Division was practically back on the line which it was to
hold for the next few months, and on which the German offensive of
1918 still found the British. Continuous unsuccessful attempts to
break through occurred till 31st October, when trench warfare set in.
Notable among these was the attack on the K.S.L.I. and Y. and L. on
the 23rd October, when 300 enemy dead were left in front of our
trenches; on the 18th Infantry Brigade on the night of the 27/28th
October, when the enemy captured the line, but was driven out by a
counter-attack, in which the East Yorks specially distinguished
themselves; and on the night of the 29/30th October, when the 19th
Infantry Brigade lost some trenches, but counter-attacked
successfully, and counted 200 German dead. The incident of Cpl.
Forward, 1st The Buffs, is typical of the fierce fighting. On 30th
October, when the O.C. machine-guns of The Buffs and all the team had
been killed or wounded, this gallant N.C.O. continued to fire his gun
until eventually wounded in five places, when he crawled back to
report the situation. He was rewarded with the D.C.M. During the whole
period, 20th to 30th October, the guns were woefully short of
ammunition, and consequently a greater strain was thrown on the
infantry.

CHAPTER IV

ARMENTIERES

1914-15

Active fighting now died away on this front, but its place was taken
by constant shelling and the deadly sniping which claimed so many
victims at this time. The weather during November and December was
truly appalling. All trenches were knee-deep and more in mud and
water, and it is on record that the B.G.C., 19th Infantry Brigade, had
his boots sucked off by the mud and went round trenches without them.
Parapets would not stand and were so flimsy that many men were shot
through them. But the weather eventually improved, material for
revetment began to appear, and by the commencement of 1915 it was
possible to move in the trenches in comparative safety.

The next few months were uneventful ones, the only incidents worthy of
remark being a visit from the King on the 2nd December; a minor
operation by the North Staffordshire Regiment on the 12th March,
resulting in the inclusion in our line of the unsavoury Epinette
Salient; the sudden move of the 16th Infantry Brigade to Vlamertinghe
at the time of the enemy's attack at St. Eloi in the middle of March,
and a little mining and counter-mining on the Frelinghien and Le
Touquet fronts in May. The minor operation at l'Epinette was a very
well-planned night affair, whereby the 17th Infantry Brigade advanced
their line 200-300 yards on a frontage of half a mile. It was carried
out by the 1st Battalion North Staffordshire Regiment and 12th Field
Company, and Sir H. Smith-Dorrien (Army Commander), in congratulating
the regiment, mentioned particularly Lieuts. Pope and Gordon for
fine leading. But if there was no heavy fighting, the trench casualties
from sniping and enemy shell-fire were quite considerable (see
Appendix). We had practically no artillery ammunition with which to
worry the enemy, as the following extract from the Divisional War
Diary shows:--

_24th April 1915._--"In view of the fighting in progress in the north
(Second Battle of Ypres) the Corps Commander allots an extra ten
rounds of shrapnel per gun for 18-pounders with a view to making a
demonstration by fire to hold the enemy in front of us." Amusing
reading in 1919!

The Division continued to hold a quiet but very extended front till
the end of May, receiving a succession of units from new Divisions to
serve their apprenticeship to trench warfare.

Amongst our visitors, during this period, were units of the 9th
Division, and some of those who have read Ian Hay's _The First Hundred
Thousand_ will have recognized in it a description of a part of the
trenches of the 19th Infantry Brigade.

During this period the four brigades each received a fifth Territorial
Battalion--the Queen's Westminsters joining on the 11th November and
being allotted to the 18th Infantry Brigade; the 5th Scottish Rifles,
who went to the 19th Infantry Brigade, joining on the 19th November;
the 2nd Battalion London Regiment joining the 17th Infantry Brigade in
February, and the 5th Battalion Loyal North Lancashire Regiment the
16th Infantry Brigade on the 15th of that month. The 38th Field
Company left the Division on the 9th April, and on the 21st December
1914 the 1st London Field Company, later the 509th, began its long
connection with the 6th Division. The Division lost its squadron of
the 19th Hussars, receiving in its place "C" squadron of the
Northamptonshire Yeomanry.

It was during the sojourn in Armentieres that the "Fancies,"
without mention of whom no history of the Division would be complete,
came into being. With the "Follies," the 4th Division troupe, formed a
few weeks before them, also in Armentieres, they were the forerunners
of the Divisional theatrical troupes which subsequently became
universal.

At Armentieres also took place the first 6th Divisional Horse Show, a
highly successful two-day show--the first of its kind held in the
B.E.F.

On the 27th May 1915 began the relief of the Division by the 27th
Division, and on the following days its move northwards to join the
newly formed VI Corps. Major-Gen. Sir John Keir left on the 27th to
take up command of the new corps, taking with him--as B.G.,
R.A.--Brig.-Gen. W. H. L. Paget.

Major-Gen. W. N. Congreve, V.C., from the 18th Infantry Brigade,
succeeded Sir John Keir in command of the Division; Brig.-Gen.
Humphreys taking the appointment of C.R.A.

CHAPTER V

YPRES SALIENT

1915-16

On the night of the 31st May/1st June the Division took over its new
front in the Ypres Salient, commencing its long tour in that unsavoury
region, and trench casualties almost doubled immediately. It continued
in the Salient up to the end of July 1916, with three periods of rest,
each of about a month's duration: the first spent in the neighbourhood
of Houtkerque and Poperinghe, in November and December 1915; the
second in the Houtkerque-Wormhoudt area, with one brigade at a time
back at Calais from mid-March to mid-April 1916; and the third again
in the Houtkerque-Wormhoudt area from mid-June to mid-July 1916. The
nature of these rests has been humorously but not untruthfully
portrayed in the columns of _Punch_; the author of "At the Front" in
that paper having been an officer in the K.S.L.I.

The line was just hardening after the Second Battle of Ypres when the
Division moved up to the Salient, and no active operations took place
on the actual front taken over by the Division, but its artillery was
called upon to assist its neighbours on either flank, i.e. on the 16th
June when the 3rd Division attacked Bellewarde Farm north-west of
Hooge; on the 22nd June when the 42nd Infantry Brigade of the 14th
Division attempted a small operation, and on the 6th July when the 4th
Division carried out a successful minor operation near Pilkem.

On the 30th July the 14th Division was attacked at Hooge and driven
back to Sanctuary and Zouave Woods. Their counter-attacks, gallantly
delivered, but under the circumstances giving very little prospect of
success, failed, and for a time the situation was critical. The
16th Infantry Brigade was moved up to the area about Goldfish Chateau
(half-mile north-west of Ypres) as a precautionary measure, and was at
one time in danger of being thrown in to make a hasty counter-attack.
Fortunately this proved unnecessary, and on the 31st July the Corps
Commander decided to relieve the whole Division, and to allot to it
the task of restoring the line at Hooge in a carefully prepared
attack.

The relief was carried out on the 2nd and 3rd August 1915, and on the
6th the Division took over its front of attack, and the preparatory
bombardment was commenced. This bombardment was very carefully
planned, carried out with great thoroughness and accuracy, and was one
of the most effective and severe that had, up to that time, been put
down by the British. The artillery co-operation in the attack was on a
similar scale and equally effective, except so far as counter-battery
work against enemy artillery to the south was concerned, and the
attack owed much of its success to the assistance it received from the
artillery. To this assistance two French batteries of "75's," lent by
the 36th French Corps, ably contributed.

The attack was launched on the 9th August at 3.15 a.m. on a front of
about 1,000 yards--the 18th Infantry Brigade (Lt.-Col. F. W. Towsey)
attacking on the right with the 2nd D.L.I. in front line and the 2nd
Sherwood Foresters in support, the 16th Infantry Brigade (Brig.-Gen.
C. Nicholson) on the left, with the 1st K.S.L.I. and the 2nd Y. and L.
Regiment in front line, and the 1st The Buffs in support.

The attack was completely successful; all objectives were quickly
gained. A very large number of German dead were counted in the
recaptured position, and a considerable number of prisoners taken. The
captured position was subjected to a very heavy bombardment,
especially on the right; principally by guns firing from the
south-east, not opposite the corps front, which took the new line in
flank and often in reverse. The troops of the 18th Infantry Brigade
held on to their positions with their usual gallantry and
determination, in spite of very heavy casualties. The 2nd D.L.I.
particularly distinguished themselves by the tenacity they displayed,
and they and the 2nd Sherwood Foresters and 1st East Yorkshire
Regiment suffered severely. In face of the heavy shelling it was found
impossible on the right to establish a line on the final objective,
where all the former trenches had been entirely obliterated. The
advanced troops had accordingly to be withdrawn on this flank, but
some time after this withdrawal was thought to have been completed a
message was received from a Lance-Corporal of the 2nd D.L.I. to the
effect that he was established in the stables of the chateau with a
few men, and asking that rations and ammunition might be sent up to
them. On the left not only was all the ground lost on the 30th July
regained, but an important spur north of the Menin Road, which had
hitherto been in German occupation, was included in the final position
consolidated. Three officers and 124 other ranks were taken prisoners,
and over 500 of the enemy were counted dead on the captured ground.
The gallant work of the R.E. in wiring the position was specially
mentioned in the accounts from G.H.Q. which appeared in the papers.

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9