The Fifth Battalion Highland Light Infantry in the War 1914-1918 | Page 9

big engagement to give a coherent description of the whole. He can tell
only of such happenings as came under his own observation. Of the
broader issues and general trend of the action, as well as of the minor
local incidents away from his own little corner of the field, he can but
repeat what he has learned from others, reconciling as best he can the
conflicting versions of the same episode as it is narrated by those who
have seen it from different points of view or taken part in it.
The preliminary bombardment of the enemy's lines commenced
punctually at 4.30 a.m. The Turkish guns replied almost at once, and

the volume of fire on both sides rapidly increased until the din and
vibration became almost unendurable. From our Headquarters at the
junction of Oxford Street and the Old French Road little could be seen
of what was going on. Our artillery was mainly concentrated on the
trenches away on the right which were to be assaulted by the 155th
Brigade, only a few guns being directed at the position on our
immediate front; its turn was to come later.
At 7.30 our artillery fire ceased with startling suddenness. The hour for
the attack had arrived, and the guns were now to be switched on to the
Turkish artillery and reserves to prevent these giving any effective
assistance to the troops defending the trenches. A minute or two later
distant cheering and the sharp rattle of musketry were heard mingling
with the roar of the Turkish guns. The 155th had gone in.
An hour or two elapsed before any news of their fortunes reached us;
an hour or two during which the guns thundered almost as vigorously
as ever and the rifle-fire came and went in bursts. Then things began to
quieten down and tidings sped along the lines that the attack had
succeeded: the French had gained some ground on their extreme right,
and the 155th had secured their objective.
Soon, however, this good news was robbed of some of its gladness by a
rumour that at least one of the K.O.S.B. battalions had been badly cut
up--that they had gone too far and had been unable to return; what had
become of them no one seemed to know. It was several days before we
heard what had actually happened. The 4th K.O.S.B. had been ordered
to take three lines of trenches which were shown on the maps issued for
the attack. Two lines were rushed without much difficulty; but there
was no third line to take!--at least not where the third line appeared on
the maps. The map had been prepared from photographs taken from
aeroplanes, and in these photographs there appeared as a trench what
proved to be, in reality, only a shallow ditch or sunken pathway.
Photography, we are told, cannot lie; evidently it may at times mislead.
When the attacking battalion reached this ditch they did not recognise it
as their furthest objective and went right on, seeking the non-existent
third trench, until they came into the area which the French artillery

were shelling to prevent the forward movement of the Turkish reserves.
It was long hours before they were able to fall back on the captured
trenches, and then only after terrible losses.
Towards 2.30 p.m. a message reached us that the attack by our Brigade
might be delivered earlier than the appointed time and that we were to
be prepared to move. Orders had previously been received that
companies were not to go into action with more than four officers and
that each was to leave twenty-five men with Battalion Headquarters.
The artillery preparation for the afternoon attack was a repetition of the
morning bombardment, but as fire was now almost entirely
concentrated on the trenches in front of our Brigade, we were able to
form a better conception of its effects. The destruction was enormous.
Parapets and trenches were scattered in clouds of dust which soon
became so dense as to blot out the entire landscape from our sight. The
impression was that of a huge black cloud resting on the ground, a
cloud incessantly rent and illumined by the red flashes of the bursting
shells. Nothing, it seemed, could live under such smashing fire. In
actual fact, as we saw for ourselves after the position had been taken,
the enemy's casualties from it were appalling. The morale of the
survivors must have been terribly shaken. The marvel is that, after such
an experience, they were able to put up so stout a resistance as they did
at many points.
The attack of the 157th Brigade was launched about 5 p.m. Over the
parapet of Oxford Street we watched the 6th H.L.I. advancing in
successive lines on our left flank. Nothing could