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
The three weeks spent here were quiet and very pleasant. After all
the discomfort and hardships of fighting through a wet and very cold
winter, the warm spring weather of May came as an intense relief.
It was a time, however, of hard work; completely new lines of trenches
had to be dug. In the right sub-sector, where the line resulting from
the capture of Trescault and Bilhem had to be re-sited, the battalions
of the 60th Brigade, with the help of the 83rd Field Company R.E., dug
and wired in twelve days a good trench 5 feet deep and 6 feet wide
throughout the whole brigade front--a distance of about 3000 yards.
Similar work was done by the 61st Brigade on the left, and behind the
front line support and communication trenches were made.
During this month a considerable addition to the direct responsibility
of the Divisional Signal Company occurred. The signal personnel of the
field artillery brigades was transferred to the R.E. and formed into
sub-sections of the Divisional Signal Company, from which additional
N.C.O.’s and men were posted to complete the establishment.
A few weeks later the Wireless section, previously attached, as
occasion demanded, from the Corps Signal Company, was also included in
the establishment of the Divisional Signal Company.
Between the 12th and 14th of May the XVth Corps front was reorganised,
the 8th Division being withdrawn from the line, which was then held by
the 40th on the right and the 20th on the left. The 60th Brigade, which
had been relieved by the 59th on the 4th of May, came up and extended
the 20th Division line to the right, taking in Beaucamp and Villers
Pluich.
The only break in the fine weather happened at this time. There was
a very bad thunderstorm for about half an hour on the 14th. Dug-outs
were flooded--those of the 12th K.R.R.C. to a depth of 6 feet--trenches
began to fall in, and sunken roads became torrents. Water poured into
a deep dug-out which formed the headquarters of the 60th Brigade and
soaked the documents. By means of pumps and drains the dug-outs were
cleared and kits and papers rescued, and as the weather became dry and
warm again little damage was done.
On the 19th units began moving out of the line as the Division was
leaving the Fourth Army to go further north, and on the 23rd General
Matheson handed over the sector to the G.O.C. 42nd Division.
On the 20th the Corps Commander, Lieut.-General Sir John Du Cane,
addressed the 12th King’s and the 7th D.C.L.I. as representatives of
the Division. He said that the 20th Division had driven back the enemy
from the trenches in front of Morval and Lesbœufs to the Hindenburg
Line, a greater distance than that achieved by any other division
on that front. The 20th had seen much hard fighting and had never
failed to gain its objectives. It had distinguished itself not only in
fighting but also in the fine amount of hard work it had done during
the advance and digging in before the Hindenburg Line.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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