49TH(WEST RIDING) DIVISIONFirst Line
The Division sailed for France in April 1915, and before the end of that month entered the line about Fleurbaix as part of the IV. Corps, First Army.
In the Battle of Aubers Ridge, 9th and other days of May 1915, the Division held most of the Corps line while the 7th and 8th Divisions attacked.
About the end of June the Division was transferred to the VI. Corps, Second Army, and thereafter did six months’ arduous work in the Ypres salient.
In January 1916 the Division marched to Calais, whence, in February, they were railed to near Amiens. During the ensuing five months they held trenches in the Authuille-Thiepval district and did much work in preparation for the great battle. They were now in the Fifth Army, at first in the X. Corps, afterwards in the II.
From 1st July, 1916, when the Battle of the Somme opened, to nearly the end of September, they were almost constantly engaged, the task of the Fifth Army being to maintain vigorous pressure, and so facilitate the advance of the Fourth Army on its right. On the Division leaving the Fifth Army the Corps Commander expressed himself as gratified by their spirit and work.
The despatch from Sir Douglas Haig of 23rd December, 1916, paragraph 8, deals with the attackon Thiepval and other strongly fortified positions on 1st July, a phase of the “Battle of Albert, 1916,” and in Messrs. Dent’s edition, p. 26, there is a note in the following terms: “In the course of this fighting a brigade of the 49th Division, Major-General E. M. Percival, made a gallant attempt to force Thiepval from the north.” The Division or one or other of the brigades was engaged in several subsequent actions in the Somme campaign of 1916.
The Division was taken north again in October to the Ypres area where it was to be employed for nearly two years. In July 1917 the Division moved from the Merville district to Nieuport where they experienced a particularly bad month. The hostile bombardment was ceaseless, and the troops in the line crowded in a very circumscribed space north of the Canal suffered very heavily. In the beginning of October the Division entered the main battle in the Ypres salient and took part in several attacks under most trying conditions; these were characteristic of the Third Battle of Ypres. A quotation as to the attack of 9th October, the Battle of Poelcappelle, has already been given under the 48th Division, who were on the left of the 49th, the 66th being on their right.
In November the Division was in the line in the Menin Road area, and although the great battle had died down losses from the unceasing shell fire kept high, while the physical sufferings from mud and cold were almost beyond the endurance of the strongest.
In January 1918, when brigades were cut down from four to three battalions, the 1/8th West YorkshireRegiment, 1/5th West Riding Regiment and the 1/5th The King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry were taken from the 49th and sent to the 62nd, the second line West Riding Division.
The 49th was still in the Ypres salient in the beginning of April 1918. Few divisions had a more intimate acquaintance with its shell-fire and mud.
The Division gained great distinction in the battles about the Lys river in April when the British were “fighting with their backs to the wall.”[2]From 10th April till the end of that month one or other of the three brigades was almost daily engaged, on the northern side of the salient, which the enemy had made after overwhelming the Portuguese division on the 9th. The task of the 49th and other divisions near them was to stem his rush and prevent him spreading out to the north and west. If he had succeeded in gaining more ground to the north, Ypres would have gone.
In his written despatch of 20th July, 1918, as to these events Sir Douglas Haig said, paragraph 59, 12th April: “Troops of the 25th, 34th and 49th Divisions although heavily attacked maintained their positions to south and south-east of Bailleul.”
Paragraph 60, 13th April: German troops had entered Neuve Église, “but before noon were driven out by troops of the 33rd and 49th Divisions in a most successful counter-attack in which a number of prisoners were taken.”
Paragraph 64: “At different times on the 16thApril a number of strong local attacks were made by the enemy on the Meteren-Wytschaete front, which were for the most part repulsed with heavy loss by the 25th, 34th and 49th Divisions.... The enemy’s attacks in the Kemmel sector (17th April) were pressed with great determination, but ended in his complete repulse at all points by troops of the 34th, 49th and 19th Divisions, his infantry being driven out by counter-attacks wherever they had gained a temporary footing in our line.”
Paragraph 67 describes the fierce fighting on 25th and 26th April when the enemy captured Kemmel Hill. Speaking of the 25th, Sir Douglas Haig said the enemy’s attacks were renewed in great strength, and after a violent bombardment. “The weight of the attack in the British sector fell on the 9th Division and attached troops of the 49th Division, who at 7 a.m. were still holding their positions about Wytschaete intact, though heavily engaged. Fierce fighting continued in this neighbourhood for some hours later, and great numbers of Germans were killed by rifle and machine-gun fire at short range. Later in the morning the right of the 9th Division was forced to fall back fighting stubbornly to Vierstraat, but at 1 p.m. our troops still held the Grand Bois north of Wytschaete.”
The 49th was heavily engaged on the 26th. “A very gallant counter-attack by the 25th Division with attached troops of the 21st and 49th Divisions, undertaken in conjunction with the French, penetrated into Kemmel village, taking over 300 prisoners. Our troops then found themselves exposed to heavy machine-gun fire from the flanksand were unable to maintain their positions. Later in the morning the enemy renewed his attacks in strength but in spite of repeated efforts was only able to make small progress at certain points. Troops of the 21st, 30th, 39th and 49th Divisions and the South African Brigade of the 9th Division had heavy fighting and made several gallant counter-attacks.”
Paragraph 68, 29th April: “The enemy’s advance stayed.” “On the British front the positions held by the 21st, 49th and 25th Divisions were strongly attacked between 5 a.m. and 5.30 a.m. On the failure of these attacks bodies of German infantry advanced at 6 a.m. in mass formation with bayonets fixed against the 49th Division and were repulsed with the heaviest losses....
“During the morning repeated attacks were made without result against the 25th and the 49th.... At all points the attack was pressed vigorously with massed bodies of troops and the losses suffered by the German infantry were very great. Throughout the whole of the fighting our infantry and artillery fought magnificently, and in more than one instance our troops went out to meet the German attack and drove back the enemy with the bayonet. At the end of the day except for a small loss of ground at Voormezeele our line was intact and the enemy had undergone a severe and decided check.” The French retook Locre on the 30th, and the enemy’s great offensive was ended.
On 2nd May telegrams, sent by Sir Douglas Haig to the G.O.C. Second Army, congratulating certain divisions, were published. One of thesereferred to the 49th Division and was as follows: “I desire to express my appreciation of the very valuable and gallant service performed by troops of the 49th Division since its entry into the battle north of Armentières. The courage and determination shown by this Division have played no small part in checking the enemy’s advance, and I wish you to convey to the General Officer Commanding, and to all officers and men under his command, my thanks for all that they have done.”
Sir Douglas Haig several times, in the course of his written despatch, refers to the splendid conduct of the troops engaged in the Lys battle. The enemy employed 42 divisions of which 33 were “fresh,” while 9 had come from the Somme. The British had 25 divisions of which only 8 had not been in the furnace of the Somme. Further it has to be kept in view that, as many divisions were sent from the northern to the southern area during the March retreat, the work of and strain upon those left in the north, such as the 49th, were greatly increased: these were thus not “fresh” in the sense that the enemy’s forces were “fresh.” French assistance was of the utmost value in finally convincing the enemy that his offensive was a failure, but that assistance could not come until after the battle had raged for a full week.
In paragraph 70 Sir Douglas Haig remarked: “Both by them (the divisions brought from the Somme) and by the divisions freshly engaged every yard of ground was fiercely disputed, until troops were overwhelmed or ordered to withdraw. Such withdrawals as were deemed necessary in the courseof the battle were carried out successfully and in good order.
“At no time, either on the Somme or on the Lys, was there anything approaching a breakdown of command or a failure of morale. Under conditions that made rest and sleep impossible for days together, and called incessantly for the greatest physical exertion and quickness of thought, officers and men remained undismayed, realising that for the time being they must play a waiting game, and determined to make the enemy pay the full price for the success which for the moment was his.”
When one reads the detailed accounts of the work done by any of the divisions on the Lys one is filled with wonder and amazement at the power of endurance, the unbending and self-sacrificing spirit and technical efficiency of units, many of which had suffered a 50 per cent. loss a fortnight or less before the 9th April, and were to the extent of a full half composed of lads sent to France after 22nd March.
The 49th Division was moved to the south and joined the XXII. Corps at the end of August 1918. On 12th September they relieved the 51st in the Plouvain sector, east of Arras. They took part in the last great advance. Along with the Canadian Corps they were engaged in an attack on 11th October, north-east of Cambrai. On that date the fighting was stiff and the losses were severe, but on the 12th good progress was made. The advance continued on 20th October and the XXII. Corps drove the enemy across the Selle and the Écaillonrivers and in the last week of October were up against the Rhonelle position.
In Sir Douglas Haig’s despatch of 21st December, 1918, paragraph 49, the Battle of the Sambre, 1st to 11th November, he says: “During these two days, 1st and 2nd November, the 61st, 49th (Major-General N. J. G. Cameron) and 4th Divisions crossed the Rhonelle river, capturing Maresches and Preseau after a stubborn struggle, and established themselves on the high ground two miles to the east of it. On their left the 4th Canadian Division captured Valenciennes and made progress beyond the town. As a consequence of this defeat the enemy on the 3rd November withdrew on the Le Quesnoy-Valenciennes front.”
The following battalions were chosen for the Army of the Rhine: 1/5th and 1/6th West Yorkshire Regiment, 1/5th Yorkshire Light Infantry and 1/4th York and Lancaster Regiment.[3]
FOOTNOTES:[2]As to the Lys battles see also 50th, 51st, 55th and 61st Divisions.[3]An account of some of the more important features in the history of the 49th Division and of its younger sister the 62nd will be found inThe West Riding Territorials in the Great War, by Major L. Magnus (Kegan Paul and Co., 15s.). Some most impressive pictures of life in the Ypres salient and at Nieuport in 1917 are to be found inHappy Days with the 47th and 49th Divisions, by Benedict Williams (Harding and More, 1921, 7s. 6d.).
[2]As to the Lys battles see also 50th, 51st, 55th and 61st Divisions.
[2]As to the Lys battles see also 50th, 51st, 55th and 61st Divisions.
[3]An account of some of the more important features in the history of the 49th Division and of its younger sister the 62nd will be found inThe West Riding Territorials in the Great War, by Major L. Magnus (Kegan Paul and Co., 15s.). Some most impressive pictures of life in the Ypres salient and at Nieuport in 1917 are to be found inHappy Days with the 47th and 49th Divisions, by Benedict Williams (Harding and More, 1921, 7s. 6d.).
[3]An account of some of the more important features in the history of the 49th Division and of its younger sister the 62nd will be found inThe West Riding Territorials in the Great War, by Major L. Magnus (Kegan Paul and Co., 15s.). Some most impressive pictures of life in the Ypres salient and at Nieuport in 1917 are to be found inHappy Days with the 47th and 49th Divisions, by Benedict Williams (Harding and More, 1921, 7s. 6d.).