CHAPTER XV

FROM YPRES TO LEDEGHEM

28TH SEPTEMBER TO 14TH OCTOBER 1918

Three hours before zero on the 28th September the Belgians commenced their preliminary bombardment, which on our front provoked little retaliation. Heavy rain was falling and it was the dark hour before dawn, when at 5.25 A.M. our leading infantry advanced to the attack over the slippery and shell-pitted ground. The 28th Brigade was on a front of 700[124] yards and the 26th on one of 1200.

The whole operation went like clockwork, although at the start progress was somewhat impeded by the darkness and the churned-up soil, now rendered more unstable by the continuous rain. A smoke-barrage[125] was at first unnecessary owing to the very early zero[126] hour, but as dawn broke and a south-west breeze sprang up, its great value became apparent and the tunnelled dug-outs and “Pill-boxes,” which strewed the Bellewarde and Frezenberg Ridges, were isolated and captured with greater ease than might have been expected. By 6.45 A.M. the northern end of the Frezenberg Ridge was taken; by 8 A.M. the whole of it was in our hands, and patrols from the Highland Brigade had pushed on towards the Hanebeek, in conjunction with the Eighth Belgian Division.

The Sappers and Pioneers, who had bridged the stream at Potijze during the night of the 27th/28th, followed immediately behind the infantry, and set to work without delay on the Ypres-Zonnebeke and Hell-fire Corner-Zonnebeke roads. Their rapid improvements rewarded all the forethought and labour which had been expended in the accumulation of suitable material, and enabled the forward movement of the divisional artillery to begin at 8 A.M. By 8.30 A.M. our first howitzer battery came into action in its new position, but the Ypres-Zonnebeke road soon became congested with Belgian artillery and the progress of our remaining batteries was slow.

Advance from the Frezenberg Ridge was resumed at 8.35 A.M. The dispositions of the 28th Brigade remained unaltered, but in the 26th the Camerons passed through the Seaforths and Black Watch. The plan now entailed a partial wheel to the left, in order that the high ground might be secured before the low ground farther north was crossed. This manœuvre was accomplished with the aid of a H.E. barrage, into which the Field Artillery joined, battery by battery, as they reached their new position west of Frezenberg Ridge. The first real opposition encountered by the infantry was near Anzac Ridge, where dense strands of wire and groups of “Pill-boxes” enhanced the natural strength of the position, but nothing could arrest the momentum of our men, and half an hour before noon all the main ridge from the Polygone de Zonnebeke to Broodseinde was in our possession.

Thus our final objective was won with surprising ease and at trifling cost; the only matter now to be settled was the part to be played by the 27th Brigade.

This brigade had moved up from camps west of Ypres early on the 28th, and proceeded steadily over the heavy ground to the Polygone Butt. Brig.-General Croft had been ordered to be prepared for any one of three courses; to assist either of our assaulting brigades during the advance to Broodseinde Ridge, or to advance north from Broodseinde in the event of the Belgians finding the low and boggy ground on their front impassable, or to exploit success by an advance towards Becelaere.

Accordingly General Tudor and Brig.-General Croft went forward to the Broodseinde Ridge, and by 12.30 P.M. had ascertained beyond doubt that it was firmly held by the Belgians as well as by our own men. The resistance of the German infantry was feeble, and their artillery-fire practically negligible. Gheluvelt had already fallen to the Twenty-ninth Division, and the Highland Brigade and the Eighth Belgian Division were in close touch several hundred yards east of Broodseinde Cross Roads.

The Lowland Brigade was therefore instructed to advance against Becelaere. Owing to a breakdown of the visual signalling arrangements there was a delay in the transmission of the orders, and the two assaulting battalions, the 12th and 11th Royal Scots, did not leave their position of deployment near Polygone Butt until 2.30 P.M. Stern opposition was encountered at once, chiefly on the left of the 11th Royal Scots, and increased perceptibly as our men approached Becelaere. Just north of the village three hostile batteries came into action in the open, and it was only after a strenuous combat that the 11th Royal Scots, assisted by a section of “B” Company of the Machine-gun Battalion, took possession of one of these batteries and silenced the others. The enemy’s machine-gunners were still full of fight, but all virtue had gone out of the infantry, who, though present in large numbers, took no part in the operation. The 11th Royal Scots mastered the Molenhoek Ridge, and the high ground north of the village of Becelaere was taken by the 12th Royal Scots about 4 P.M.

The seizure of the village set a limit to our advance that day. At nightfall the situation was as follows: the Twenty-ninth Division was believed to be holding the line Nieuwe Kruiseecke Cross Roads-Poezelhoek, but no connection had yet been secured with it; the 27th Brigade, holding Becelaere, was in touch at Judge Cross Roads with the 26th, which was linked up with the Belgians east of Broodseinde Cross Roads, each brigade having two battalions in line and one in brigade reserve; the 28th Brigade lay in divisional reserve near Polygone Butt with one battalion pushed forward to protect the right rear of the 27th. Our casualties had been slight, and in that one day considerably more ground had been won than during months of furious fighting in 1917. Nothing could have revealed in a stronger light the unmistakable change that had come over the character of the war.

Our greatest trouble was the opening up of decent roads from Ypres to the ridge. The one route of any consequence—the Ypres-Zonnebeke road—was ready for wheeled traffic as far as Zonnebeke by 1 P.M., and by dusk all three[127] artillery brigades were in action behind the Broodseinde Ridge. But it was the one highway fit for use, and during the hours of darkness it was thronged with Belgian and British limbers, some of which remained out on the road all night. These difficulties had been foreseen by Lieut.-Colonel Jeffcoat, who had organised a small column of pack animals for each brigade, and under the personal supervision of the brigade staff captains the rations for the men were brought up on the night of the 28th.

Early in the afternoon of that day General Tudor was informed that the Thirty-sixth Division, in Corps reserve, was to come into line between the Ninth and Twenty-ninth Divisions, and the 153rd A.F.A. Brigade was to be under its command. About midnight orders were received to continue the push next day by daylight. The Thirty-sixth Division, which was to take over Becelaere from the 27th Brigade, was to advance on Terhand while the Twenty-ninth Division was to carry Gheluwe. The Ninth, covering the left flank of the Thirty-sixth Division, was to conform on its left to the Belgian Army, by moving in close touch with it to the vicinity of Keiberg Spur.

The brigadiers received their orders in person from General Tudor. The 28th Brigade was to lead the attack; the 27th and 26th, following in rear of the right and left of the 28th respectively, were to reinforce and carry on the assault without waiting for orders in the event of progress being checked. To give the men as much rest as possible and to allow the Thirty-sixth Division to come up into line, 9 A.M. was the hour fixed for the resumption of the forward movement.

The steady downpour under which the attack had begun was still falling at 9 A.M. on the 29th. The autumn night had been not only wet but very cold, and as practically no shelter was available great discomfort was endured by the men. Fortunately the sky showed signs of clearing when the 28th Brigade, with the “Rifles” and Newfoundlanders in line, and the Royal Scots Fusiliers in reserve, passed through the outposts of the 26th Brigade and began its advance on the Keiberg Spur. There was no creeping barrage, but our guns fired smoke to cover the movement of the troops across the shallow valley separating Keiberg from Broodseinde Ridge. Amid desultory shell and considerable machine-gun fire Brig.-General Jack’s men pressed on, and by 10 A.M. the Newfoundlanders with the Belgians on their left had captured the Keiberg and had broken through the Passchendaele-Terhand line; by 11.25 A.M. they were reported to be entering Waterdamhoek. One section of the 50th Brigade R.F.A. reached the Spur and was soon followed by the remainder of the battery.

From the outset the “Rifles” met firm opposition and were constantly enfiladed by machine-gun fire from the south, though the Thirty-sixth Division had gone through the outposts of the 27th Brigade about 9.30 A.M. For a brief space our men were checked by the Passchendaele-Terhand line, but this was quickly carried, and about 1 P.M. both the “Rifles” and Newfoundlanders were facing a strongly-wired line running east of Moorslede and Waterdamhoek, and west of Strooiboomhoek and Dadizeele, called the Flanders I. Stellung. Here they suffered grievously through machine-gun fire from the front and from the right wing, where Terhand had not yet been captured. There was now a gap between the 28th Brigade and the Belgians, and the Highland Brigade was ordered to send a battalion to fill it.

The Camerons accordingly moved forward, but after they had passed well over the Keiberg Spur, the Belgians, who were experiencing obstinate resistance near Moorslede asked for assistance, and General Tudor commanded Brig.-General Hore Ruthven to use his whole brigade if necessary, and press on south of Moorslede with the utmost speed.

Meanwhile Brig.-General Croft had instructed his battalion commanders to follow close behind the “Rifles” and to join in the attack if the advance showed any sign of being checked. Finding that the leading troops had been brought to a standstill, Lieut.-Colonel Smyth, who had been reconnoitring well ahead of the brigade, consulted with Lieut.-Colonel Sir J. Campbell, and they sent forward two companies each of the K.O.S.B. and the 11th Royal Scots. The additional momentum thus thrown into the onset carried the whole line forward about 2.30 P.M. On a front of nearly 4000 yards men of the 27th and 28th Brigades broke through the Flanders I. Stellung position and entered Dadizeele about 4 P.M., just as the enemy was hurriedly evacuating it. Pushing forward, they established themselves on the Menin-Roulers road as dusk was falling. North of them the Highlanders, whose dash had materially assisted the Belgians to carry Moorslede, took up a position about 300 yards west of the Menin-Roulers road, extending north almost to St Pieter, which the Belgians wrongly reported as being in their hands. The latter did not forget the assistance given them by the Highlanders on this day, and it was referred to in terms of great appreciation by the King of the Belgians when he reviewed the Division on the 5th November.

This concluded the operations for the day. On our right the Thirty-sixth Division, encountering stiff opposition, did not secure Terhand until 3.45 P.M., and at night the enemy was still holding Wijfwegen and Hill 41, a very important tactical feature, which dominated our right flank. On our left the Belgian line ran back for fully 1000 yards parallel to and south of the St Pieter-Moorslede road, north of which they had failed to penetrate a thick belt of wire.

The line of the Ninth was thus well ahead of that held by the divisions on both wings, our frontage being about 3500 yards, 1500 of which were south of the divisional boundary. Owing largely to the skilful leading of regimental officers casualties had on the whole been few, the “Rifles” being hardest hit. Lieut.-Colonel Kelso of the Royal Scots Fusiliers was blown up by a shell, but though severely shaken refused to leave his battalion. In the evening the 28th Brigade was withdrawn into divisional reserve about Potterijebrug, with the exception of three and a half companies which were left in the line until the following night to reinforce the 27th Brigade.

After a dry spell, rain commenced again at 6 P.M. and continuing to fall throughout the night added enormously to the difficulties of keeping open the Ypres-Zonnebeke road, where traffic was constantly blocked by huge Belgian drays, slowly hauled along by one or two miserable horses.

Orders were received from Corps to resume the advance on the 30th, but in view of the fact that the Ninth was already holding a difficult salient, General Tudor decided to await news of the attack by the divisions on our wings before giving any orders. Brigades, however, were instructed to be ready to move at 9 A.M.

At 8 A.M. General Tudor presided over a conference of brigadiers at Waterdamhoek. Our patrols had reported strong opposition east of the Menin-Roulers road, and he therefore ordered his brigade commanders, pending news from the divisions on our flanks, to look for weak parts in the hostile line and to push on if opportunity offered.

Neither the Thirty-sixth nor the Eighth Belgian Division attacked in force on the 30th. The former, under a smoke-screen put down by the 50th Brigade R.F.A., captured Hill 41 about 4.30 P.M., but was almost immediately expelled by a counter-attack. During the day it took over the line up to Klephoek Cross Roads from the 27th Brigade, which even after this adjustment was still holding 1000 yards south of the divisional boundary. The Belgians failed to secure St Pieter, and the Black Watch who co-operated were also stopped by severe machine-gun fire; thus by night the situation was unaltered, the Ninth continuing to occupy a sharp salient.

During the morning the artillery brigades sent forward one or two guns to give close support to the infantry, and one gun of B/51 Battery near Slypshoek was almost up to the front line. Between noon and 2 P.M. the 50th and 51st Brigades R.F.A. were in action in the area Strooiboomhoek-Slypskappelle-Spriethoek. The route taken by the 50th Brigade to reach its position was in full view of the enemy’s lines, but the movement was carried out without much interference. Constant and heavy rain fell throughout the day, and consequently there was complete dislocation of traffic on the Ypres-Zonnebeke road, with the result that no artillery ammunition could be brought up, and the ration wagons of some units remained on the road all night.

The troubles that beset us were now becoming formidable, and it was also clear that the enemy was rushing up fresh troops to dispute our further progress. General Tudor, convinced that isolated attacks were a mistake, as the experience of the Thirty-sixth Division and the Belgians on the 30th showed, rode over to see General Detail, G.O.C. of the Eighth Belgian Division, who agreed that if an attack was to be made it should be along the whole line. At the same time, General Detail declared that his division would not be able to make an assault for some days. Shortly afterwards orders arrived for a general onset at 6.15 A.M., the Ninth Division having as objective Ledeghem, thence due east to Cuerne and Harlebeke. The first objective of the Corps consisted of the villages of Ledeghem and Menin, and the line of the Railway between them. The frontage allotted to the Division was from Klephoek, east of Dadizeele, to St Pieter. The Ninth was ready, but, as shown above, the Belgians were unable to attack so soon. This was represented to the Corps, but communications were defective and very slow, speaking on the telephone was impossible, and time did not permit of a complete report of the situation reaching Corps H.Q. in time to postpone the operation. Knowing that the Belgians could not attack, though, as always, they were eager to help us in any way in their power, General Tudor acquainted them with the situation, and they agreed to safeguard our flank by conforming later if our efforts were successful. He also instructed Brig.-General Hore Ruthven, who was very anxious about his northern wing, to seize and consolidate the line of the Railway, but to go no farther unless the Belgians joined in the battle.

The position on our right also caused great uneasiness; so long as Hill 41 remained in German hands our advance on this flank was bound to be a precarious business, but it was understood that the Thirty-sixth Division would storm the Hill at 5.45 A.M.

The weather was still very disagreeable when at 6.15 A.M. on the 1st October, the assault was launched under cover of a smoke-barrage. It was delivered by the 27th Brigade, with the K.O.S.B., the 12th Royal Scots and a company of the 11th Royal Scots, and by the 26th Brigade with the Seaforths and Black Watch. On our right the enemy put down a heavy bombardment, but fortunately it fell principally behind the 27th Brigade. A few field-guns had been brought up to within 400 or 500 yards of the front line to engage Ledeghem and some scattered farms close to our front. The fire of these guns at short range, combined with the smoke-barrage, proved of immense value in helping the infantry to overpower the stout resistance which was at first encountered in and around the farm buildings. When that had been quelled, progress was continued with great rapidity, and for a time all opposition collapsed. The Lowland Brigade carried the whole of Ledeghem and speedily arrived at the line of the light railway 500 yards east of the village. On the left the Highland Brigade captured what turned out to be one of the last groups of German “Pill-boxes,” and also reached the light railway, while the Black Watch advancing as far as Rolleghem Cappelle penetrated the village and engaged hostile guns caught in the act of limbering up.

The opposition in front was insignificant, but the enemy, who had brought up fresh troops,[128] was quick to detect and take advantage of the weakness on our wings. On the right the K.O.S.B. had been harassed continuously from the start of the battle by machine-gun fire from Hill 41, which increased in volume as the Menin-Roulers Railway was approached. The Thirty-sixth Division had postponed its attack on the Hill, with fatal consequences to our right wing, and Dadizeelehoek, less than 1000 yards south of Ledeghem, appeared to be bristling with machine-guns. Lieut.-Colonel Smyth with admirable promptitude swung two of his companies to the right, with the intention of clearing Hill 41 from the north. But the manœuvre was foiled by an almost solid flow of lead from hostile machine-guns, and Lieut.-Colonel Smyth was obliged to use the greater part of his battalion in forming a defensive flank, while a field-gun, with bullets pattering against its shield, was brought up ready to fire at point-blank range as soon as the enemy counter-attacked.

On the left, as the Belgian forces had not yet advanced, Brig.-General Hore Ruthven had to employ his reserve battalion, the Camerons, in forming a defensive flank under scourging machine-gun fire.

[Illustration: “PILL-BOX” NEAR LEDEGHEM]

At the outset of the battle the situation appeared to offer a distinct opportunity for cavalry[129] exploitation to widen the breach that had been made in the enemy’s line, but no force was available to move up immediately and the chance was lost. Very anxious about his left, General Tudor sent messages to the French Cavalry leader and the commander of the Eighth Belgian Division, requesting the former to send up without delay a regiment to Brig.-General Hore Ruthven’s H.Q. at Slypskappelle, and the latter to fill the gap that now existed between our left and its right. Word was also despatched to the Corps suggesting that any available troops should be sent up behind the Ninth to follow up success, and protect its flanks. At the same time General Tudor commanded the 28th Brigade, which since the 28th September had been out of the fighting line for little more than twenty-four hours, to be ready to guard the right flank.

The hostile pressure on our exposed flanks was steadily augmented. By 11 A.M. the Highlanders after suffering severe losses were obliged to withdraw to the main Menin-Roulers Railway, which they held for a distance of 1000 yards north of Ledeghem, whence their line ran back to a point about 500 yards south of St Pieter. This difficult retirement was carried out with the utmost coolness. Lieut.-Colonel French of the Black Watch, with great personal courage formed a defensive flank with his men and prevented the Germans from breaking our line. The French Cavalry Regiment arrived later; but the opportunity for its profitable employment had passed. The Belgians attacking at 11 A.M. took St Pieter, but failed to advance more than 100 yards east of it. Farther north their assault did not succeed, and their line ran in a north-west or west-north-west direction from the village. The machine-gun company in divisional reserve was moved up to reinforce the 26th Brigade, which had gained about 1000 yards on its right, while its left sloped back to the southern end of St Pieter.

On our right at 10.30 A.M. a hostile counter-attack from the south-east, gallantly led by mounted officers, withered away before the fire of four Lewis Guns in Ledeghem Cemetery, but two hours later a second attempt from the north-east as well as from the south-east expelled our troops from most of Ledeghem. An immediate counter-thrust by the 11th and 12th Royal Scots retook the northern end of the village, west of which the K.O.S.B. established a line along the Railway with their right flank thrown back to Manhattan Farm. From an observation post about 100 yards behind his front line, Lieut.-Colonel Smyth saw the Germans collecting troops for a great counter-stroke, and the K.O.S.B. were bracing themselves for a desperate resistance at Manhattan Farm, when the timely arrival of the 1st Inniskilling Fusiliers, who made a most heroic attack on Hill 41 from the north, scared the enemy and turned his efforts solely to defence. Though the Inniskillings failed to capture the Hill, their plucky effort probably saved the K.O.S.B., and so great was the admiration of the latter and the troops of the Ninth Division who witnessed the attack, that the G.O.C. at their request wrote at once to the Thirty-sixth Division expressing the admiration and thanks of the officers and men of the Ninth.

Throughout the whole of that trying time when the Division was fighting single-handed, the close and fearless support of the infantry by our gunners proved of inestimable value in breaking up counter-attacks. In spite of the continuous rattle of bullets on the shields, Lieut. Gorle of the 50th Brigade R.F.A. led two guns up to Ledeghem, and on four separate occasions under a veritable hail of lead brought single guns into action within a few hundred yards of the enemy. Providentially, though his tunic was combed with bullets, he escaped the death that seemed inevitable, and for his most opportune heroism he was worthily awarded the V.C.

Our gains on the 1st October were insignificant compared with those on the 28th and the 29th September, but in the old days of trench warfare they would have represented a very creditable achievement. And there is little doubt that they would have been much more remarkable but for the lack of co-operation which prevented a simultaneous attack along the whole front, for the Ninth had been stopped only by the want of support on its wings. Nevertheless, since the 28th September the Division[130] had crossed the tragic Passchendaele Ridge, left behind it the blighted wilderness created by more than four years of grisly strife, and established itself on the fringe of a landscape yet unscarred by war. In all, ten miles had been traversed since the beginning of the battle, and many prisoners and countless trophies had fallen into our hands.

The operations of the 1st October mark the end of the first phase of the Flanders offensive. It was clear that the enemy had strengthened his front, and that time would be saved and success more assured if the advance was resumed under cover of a thoroughly organised artillery barrage. This involved a certain amount of delay, as our advance had outstripped our facilities for sending forward stores and supplies, and roads and routes had to be constructed through the trackless jungle of the desolated region before heavy guns and ammunition could be brought up. Fortunately the line held by us was so well furnished with “Pill-boxes,” that during the lull our troops were more comfortably housed and protected than could have been anticipated.

Reverses in Flanders formed only a portion of the humiliations that were crowding on Germany. Before September had closed the Hindenburg Line, and with it all the hopes of the Fatherland, was broken by British forces, and the German armies were drawn back to the Selle. This success, together with the advance in Flanders, compelled the enemy to evacuate the Lys salient and draw back his front towards Lille and Douai. In the Woeuvre and Argonne, American and French forces were waging a grim struggle; for here the foe’s resistance was necessarily desperate, since the collapse of this flank was bound to involve the utter destruction of the German forces in France. But steady progress was made, though the Americans were hampered by commissariat difficulties, and it became exceedingly doubtful if the enemy could maintain the line of the Meuse, upon which his last chance of safety rested.

The result of the fighting till the 14th October was that deep dents had been made in the opposing line, which was left with inconvenient salients in the north round Lille and Douai, and farther south between the Oise and the Aisne. With a view to saving Lille and its industrial environs from the ravages of war, the policy of the Allies was to encircle the city and so cause its abandonment. To this end a further attack by the Belgian and British forces was planned for the 14th October.

In this operation the task assigned by the II. Corps to the Ninth was the Courtrai-Lendelede Railway, after reaching which, the Division was to make good the crossings over the Lys between Courtrai and Harlebeke. The railway was 9000 and the river 14,000 yards from our line. Since the 1st October the Division had experienced a fairly quiet time, but the Royal Scots Fusiliers had the bad luck to lose their C.O., Lieut.-Colonel Kelso being badly wounded by a shell; the command of the battalion was taken over by Major A. King.

On the 3rd the Germans counter-attacked under cover of a heavy bombardment, but were repulsed mainly through the agency of the Newfoundlanders, who, in their anxiety not to miss a fight, left their positions in the support line and hurrying forward to the front used their rifles and Lewis Guns with such effect that the attack lost all its sting. The Newfoundlanders had already proved their mettle on the first two days of the battle, and their prowess on the 3rd won them the sincere homage which good soldiers always pay to a brave feat of arms. The clannish Scots were proud to have them as brothers-in-arms.

While preparations for attack were steadily pushed on, each brigade was drawn back in succession for a short rest in the camps west of Ypres. The 104th Battalion of the Machine-Gun Corps, which had been attached to the Ninth since the 28th September, was reorganised into three companies, two of which were attached to the Twenty-ninth and Thirty-sixth Divisions respectively. Various minor changes were made on our front, which on the night of the 13th/14th extended from the north end of Ledeghem to a hundred yards south of the cross roads in St Pieter, the Twenty-ninth Division having again come into line on our right and taken over the position facing the village. Our chief annoyances during the period were caused by hostile area “shoots” and aerial bombing which did much damage in the transport lines, seventy-six artillery horses being killed in a single night. There were suspicions that the Germans were withdrawing, but constant and daring patrol work proved our fears to be groundless.

The boundaries within which the Ninth was to advance consisted of two parallel lines running slightly south-east from the flanks of our sector, and giving us a frontage of 1500 yards; but as our left wing was bent back and faced north-east, the jumping-off line measured nearly 2000 yards. It was therefore advisable to straighten the line and this could best be done by bringing our left up to the Menin-Roulers Railway, along which our right already ran. But to eliminate the risk of the right being barraged by the enemy while waiting for the left to come up, it was arranged that the whole line should advance simultaneously, and that the right would pause for thirty minutes on the light railway, 1000 yards east of the main railway, to enable the left to come into line and to give the Twenty-ninth Division time to clear the village of Ledeghem.

Apart from the enemy, the greatest obstacles seemed likely to be the Wulfdambeek stream, the village of Rolleghem Cappelle and dense masses of wire. Information about the width and depth of the stream was conflicting and scanty, but in order to run no risks eight light foot-bridges were prepared and carried by infantry parties, but, as it happened, they were not required, all the bridges having been left intact. The German wire was intensely strong; close in front of the left flank a belt over 100 yards in depth protected Mogg Farm and one or two “Pill-boxes” near it, and behind Rolleghem Cappelle four continuous bands stretched across our front from south-west to north-east. A similar barrier of equal depth extended along the reverse slope of a low but prominent ridge 4000 yards from our right flank. This ridge could be clearly seen from our line, and was at the extreme range at which the infantry could be covered by the gunners from their original positions; for this reason it was given as the first objective of the Ninth. Whether further progress could be made without artillery support would depend upon the tactical situation after the ridge was won. The advance to the objective was to be covered by the Ninth’s usual barrage. A forward section of 18-pounders was detailed to work with each of the two assaulting battalions, and two 6-inch trench mortars, mounted for the first time on wheels, were to operate in conjunction with the infantry.

The attack was entrusted to the 28th Brigade, with the Newfoundlanders and Royal Scots Fusiliers in line, and for the purpose of maintaining liaison with the Belgians, a company of the Black Watch was to operate on the left of the 28th Brigade. The 27th Brigade was in reserve. One company of the 9th Machine-Gun Battalion was attached to each infantry brigade, the remaining one and a company of the 104th Battalion being detailed to barrage certain points to cover the infantry advance, and then to form part of the divisional reserve. The assault was to be delivered at 5.35 A.M.

On the night of the 12th/13th the 28th Brigade A.F.A. and four guns of each battery of the 50th and 51st Brigades moved up to forward positions, the rest of the sections following on the night of the 13th/14th. All the battery positions were within about 1500 yards of the front line, and forward guns of the 51st Brigade were to deal with “Pill-boxes” and farms at a range of 700 yards. Supplementary to the two mobile 6-inch trench mortars, five others were placed in position. The 27th Brigade moved up by battalions from the rest area near Ypres to Keiberg Spur on the 13th, and that night the 28th took over the line except the portion held by the liaison company of the Black Watch. There was great artillery activity during the relief, the enemy sending over a good deal of gas, and the Newfoundlanders and the Royal Scots Fusiliers had over fifty casualties on the way up to their assembly positions.