A Short History of the 6th Division | Page 6

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withdrawn on this flank, but some time after this withdrawal was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 château 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.
The attack at Hooge was particularly interesting, as it was the first
attempt made to follow the barrage really closely. The barrage did not,
however, "creep" up to the German front line, but was placed directly
on it at once at zero and lifted back from there, the 6-in. howitzers
lifting slightly before the Field Artillery. The infantry lay out as close
to the barrage as possible before zero, and moved in on time as soon as
the Field Artillery barrage lifted. The attack was looked upon for some
time as a model of really close co-operation between infantry and
artillery.
For this operation, skilfully planned and most gallantly and
successfully carried out, the Division received great praise. The
casualties were 70 officers and 1,700 other ranks. (A very full account
of this operation can be found in the fourth volume of The Great World
War, published by the Gresham Publishing Company, Limited.)

Other incidents of the tour in the Salient were the gallant voluntary
assistance rendered on the 6th July 1915 by Lieut. Smith, 1st North
Staffords (died of wounds), with his grenadier party to a post of the
41st Brigade which was being heavily attacked, and which brought him
the thanks of General Allenby, commanding V Corps; the enemy gas
attack of 19th December 1915, when no actual attack was launched
against the Division, and the minor operations near Turco Farm and
Morteldje Estaminet on 19th-22nd April 1916. Certain trenches, D20
and 21 and Willow Walk, were much overlooked by High Command
Redoubt, some 150 yards away. The Germans throughout the 19th
April heavily bombarded these trenches, and succeeded in seizing them
at night. One company 8th Bedfords and two companies Y. and L.
delivered a counter-attack in the early hours of 20th April, but could
not retake the position. The Brigadier-General therefore decided to
bombard them steadily throughout the 21st, and recapture them on the
night 21st/22nd April with three companies of the K.S.L.I., then in
Brigade Reserve. This was brilliantly accomplished in spite of the very
heavy going, and the line firmly re-established, but with the loss of
Lt.-Col. Luard, commanding K.S.L.I., who died of wounds. It was
found that the enemy had dug good new trenches in several places, and
equipped them with steel loop-hole plates, and these were occupied
thankfully by our men. The general state of the trenches, commanded
as they were by the enemy's positions, in the water-logged Ypres
Salient during the winter of 1915-1916 defies description, and all praise
must be given to the regimental officers and men for their hard work
and cheerfulness under most depressing conditions.
Mention must