The history of the Twentieth (Light) DivisionInglefield, Valentine Erskine
History
The history of the Twentieth (Light) Division
Inglefield, Valentine Erskine
Great Britain. Army. Division, 20th (Light); World War, 1914-1918 -- Regimental histories -- Great Britain
On the 5th and 6th of July the 59th Brigade relieved the 61st in the
left sub-sector.
On the night of the 10th a minor operation was carried out by the 59th
Brigade. Gas was turned on at 10.30, accompanied by a smoke screen and
an artillery and trench mortar barrage, while four raiding parties
formed up ready to go forward. This time the enemy seemed to be well
prepared. As soon as the gas was discharged he lighted fires along his
parapet to make the cloud rise. Severe artillery, rifle and machine-gun
fire prevented the raiding parties from reaching his lines except
at one point. This was at the Mound, where Second-Lieut. Rudd and a
party of the 11th K.R.R.C. successfully bombed their way up one of the
communication trenches.
On the 12th the Germans severely shelled the Wieltje salient. Great
damage was done, and one company alone--“A” Company of the 10th
R.B.--lost 25 casualties, one-third of its whole strength. On the 12th
and 14th the town of Poperinghe was heavily bombarded; over 200 shells
fell near the square and railway station on the 12th, so that on the
14th, under the orders of the Corps Commander, all troops moved out of
the town. Divisional Headquarters moved to a camp about 1000 yards to
the north.
On the night of the 13th/14th, orders were received directing the
60th Brigade to move to Steenwerck, to be placed under the orders of
the IInd Anzac Corps. The brigade, with its machine gun company and
light trench mortar battery, entrained next morning at Poperinghe,
which was being shelled at the time, but fortunately got away without
casualties. The troops detrained at Steenwerck, and marched from there
to Erquinghem. The 12th R.B. went straight into the trenches, the 6th
K.S.L.I. and 6th Oxford and Bucks L.I. extending the line to the left
on the 15th, when Brigade Headquarters and the 12th K.R.R.C. went into
billets at Fleurbaix. The Brigade held a line running north-east and
east from La Cordonnerie Farm on the right to just north of Le Bridoux;
covering this line were three attached batteries of the 24th Field
Artillery Brigade, of the 6th Division.
The next two days were spent in registering the guns and in cutting
the wire, in preparation for an attack which was to be made by the
61st Division and the 5th Australian Division on the right of the
60th Brigade. On the 19th, after a bombardment during the day, a mine
was sprung opposite La Cordonnerie Farm at 7 P.M., and the
assaulting troops went forward. Delangre Farm was the left of the
attack, so that the 60th Brigade was not involved in these operations
beyond firing on the Germans, who stood to in their trenches north of
the farm and offered a good target for the machine guns. The ground
gained could not be held by the attacking troops, who were back in
their own trenches by 6.15 A.M. on the 20th.
On the night of the 22nd/23rd the 60th Brigade was relieved and marched
back to billets about Bailleul.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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