31st Division (United Kingdom)

On 29 November 1915 the division received warning orders to join the British Expeditionary Force in France, and advance parties set out for the embarkation ports of Folkestone and Southampton. At the last minute, the destination was changed to Egypt, the advance parties were recalled, and on 7 December the troops embarked at Devonport.[6][8]

The division reached Port Said between 24 December and 23 January 1916 and went into the Suez Canal defences at Qantara. On 26 February orders arrived to reverse the process and on 1 March the division began re-embarking at Port Said. It unloaded at Marseille between 6 and 16 March and then concentrated in the Somme area as part of the BEF. It remained on the Western Front for the rest of the war.[6][9]

The division was introduced to trench warfare in March in front of Beaumont-Hamel and Y Ravine. Although this was a quiet sector of the line, the troops suffered their first casualties during this short tour, mainly from German Minenwerfers (trench mortars). Shortly afterwards the 31st Division formed its own light trench mortar batteries (TMBs). It also provided working parties to assist the 252nd Tunnelling Company, Royal Engineers, digging the Hawthorn Ridge mine that was to be exploded to launch the forthcoming Battle of the Somme. Over the following weeks the battalions took their turns in the routine of trench holding, working parties, patrolling and trench raiding, with a constant drain on manpower from shelling and snipers.[6][10]

The 92nd Brigade held the front line trenches during the British bombardment in the days leading up to the battle, suffering significant casualties from the German counter-bombardment. The night before the battle, working parties from the 92nd Brigade were out in No man's land cutting lanes through the British barbed wire for the assaulting troops to pass through. It then withdrew into the support trenches, to hold the front line while the other two brigades attacked on 1 July. Despite all the preparation and high hopes, the First day on the Somme was a disaster for 31st Division. 93 and 94 Brigades went 'over the top' at 07.30 on 1 July, 10 minutes after the explosion of the nearby Hawthorn Ridge mine had alerted the enemy. Their objective was the village of Serre. The advancing lines were almost annihilated by German machine guns and shellfire, and only a few parties got into the enemy front line, where they remained pinned down. The division was unable to get any support to them across the fire-swept No man's land for the rest of the day.[11][12][13][14][15]

On 2 July the shattered division was pulled out of the line and sent north to a quiet sector for rest and refit, though there was the usual trickle of casualties associated with trench holding and raiding. [16]

The Somme Offensive was still going on at the end of October when the 31st Division returned to the sector for the Battle of the Ancre, which was to be the last big operation of the year. Serre had still not been taken, and the 92nd Brigade was assigned to the attack alongside 3rd Division (the rest of 31st Division was still too shattered to take part). A 48-hour preliminary bombardment began on 11 November, and the brigade moved into the trenches on the night of 12/13, along communication trenches clogged with mud. Zero hour was 05.30 on 13 November, and fog, light rain and a smokescreen reduced visibility to a few yards, so that the leading battalions initially had little difficulty, but the 3rd Division on their right made no progress. Small-scale fighting went on all day, and Private John Cunningham of the 12th East Yorks won a Victoria Cross (VC) for fighting on alone when all the rest of his team of bombers became casualties. At the end of the day the brigade had been driven back to its starting positions and suffered over 800 casualties.[17][18]

The Division remained on the Ancre through the winter of 1916–17, following up the Germans when they retired to the Hindenburg Line in the Spring of 1917.[19]

Oppy Wood, 1917. Evening by John Nash

In 8 April 1917, the division left the Ancre and moved to the Arras sector for the Arras Offensive. After a period of training and trench-holding, the division moved into assembly trenches opposite Oppy during the night of 2/3 May, under shellfire. The British creeping barrage started at 03.45 and the 92nd and 93rd Brigades set off, in the dark and mist, into severe machine gun fire from Oppy Wood. 92 Brigade was held up in No man's land and suffered severe casualties. 2nd Lieutenant Jack Harrison of the 11th East Yorks was awarded a posthumous VC.[20][21][22]

Oppy Wood from the air

Casualties in the 12th East Yorks had been so severe that it was temporarily reduced to two composite companies attached to the 10th and 11th Battalions respectively. A fresh attack on Oppy Wood was arranged for 28 June. This time the attack was to be made by the 94th Brigade with the 92nd Brigade in support. The attack was made in the evening of 28 June and successfully took the trenches, completing the Capture of Oppy Wood.[23][24]

Oppy under shellfire, May 1917.

The 31st Division was not committed to the Third Ypres Offensive, which culminated in the dreadful Battle of Passchendaele, possibly because it was not considered to have recovered from its ordeal on the Somme a year before.[25] By the beginning of 1918 the BEF was suffering a severe manpower crisis: brigades were reorganised on a three-battalion basis in February, with the surplus men being drafted to bring other units up to strength. In the 31st Division, however, this process was even more severe, with the whole of the 94th Brigade disappearing, to be replaced temporarily by the 4th Guards Brigade, and later by a reformed 94th Brigade composed of Yeomanry units recalled from Palestine.[6][26][27][28]

When the German spring offensive opened on 21 March 1918, 31st Division was in reserve until it was sent up on 23 March; even then the 92nd Brigade remained in reserve at Ervillers, improving the defences. Ervillers was attacked on the evening of 24 March, the defence being confused by British troops retreating from the forward defences. There was fighting in the village streets, but the next day the combined fire of 92nd Brigade and part of 42nd (East Lancashire) Division stopped the German advance. However, events elsewhere meant that the 31st and 42nd Divisions were ordered to retire on the morning of 27 March.[29][30] 92 Brigade then defended Ayette aerodrome against repeated attacks until, with both flanks 'in the air', it pulled back to the partly-dug 'Purple Line' in front of Ayette village. 2nd Lieutenant Basil Horsfall of the 11th East Lancs was awarded a posthumous VC. During the night, a composite battalion of troops from the 92nd Brigade's quartermaster details arrived to take over part of the Purple Line. The division was relieved on 31 March.[31][32]

While resting in the Monchy-Breton area the division received large numbers of reinforcements, mainly under the age of 19. The bombardment for the second phase of the German offensive (the Battles of the Lys) opened on 7 April, and on 11 April the division had been called forward in ex-London buses to form a defensive line near Estaires through which retreating British and Portuguese troops could withdraw. Next day the Germans threw in all their reserves to try to take Hazebrouck. Over successive days confused fighting went on, units fighting rearguards often finding their flanks left in the air and being forced to retire until on 14 May the division withdrew through a new line held by fresh Australian and British troops, who defeated the attacks and ensured the safety of Hazebrouck. A temporary 92nd Composite Battalion was formed from the 92nd Brigade to assist the Australians.[33][34]

Once out of the line the division began training for offensive operations. 31st Division took part in Operation Borderland, a limited attack on La Becque and other fortified farms in front of the Forest of Nieppe on 28 June, in what was described as 'a model operation' for artillery cooperation.[35][36][37][38] Individual units continued to make small advances through aggressive patrolling and seizing strongpoints (so-called 'peaceful penetration') until the Allies began a coordinated offensive in August. The division captured Vieux-Berquin on 13 August 1918 and pushed forward until running into serious opposition south of Ploegsteert on 21 August, where fighting continued into September.[6][39][40]

A formal attack was arranged for the morning of 28 September (the opening day of the Fifth Battle of Ypres). Although suffering heavy casualties, the 92nd Brigade and a battalion from the 93rd Brigade took their objectives, though they were shelled out part of Ploegsteert Wood. The rest of the 93rd Brigade then crossed the Douve stream accompanied by artillery and engineers, the 94th (Yeomanry) Brigade was held up the rear). The general retirement of the Germans along the whole line then allowed the division to push on through Ploegsteert Wood and advance up to the River Lys on 3 October.[6][41][42][43]

Returning to the line on 12 October, patrols from the 92nd Brigade slipped across the Lys on a raft during the night of 14/15 October and established posts on the far bank. The following afternoon further parties crossed and advanced under a barrage to the Deûlémont–Warneton road. The brigade continued the advance on 16 and 17 October, liberating several villages. By 18 October the battalions were advancing in company columns screened by XV Corps cyclist battalion, leap-frogging forward to liberate Tourcoing. Pressure was kept up through 19 and 20 October, until the brigade was squeezed out of the advancing line between Second Army and Fifth Army and went into support, while the 93rd Brigade held the junction between the two armies and continued up to the Scheldt.[44][45][46]

The division was back in the line from 28 October, with the 92nd Brigade in the lead continuing to advance slowly against machine gun and shell fire, from rearguards who 'did not appear disposed to give ground'. The division then made an attack at Tieghem on 31 October 1918 that was so successful that the 92 Brigade in reserve was not required while the 94th (Yeomanry) Brigade drove the enemy behind the Scheldt.[6][47][48]

The 31st Division returned to the line on the night of 6/7 November, crossing the Scheldt and sending forward the 11th East Yorks as part of a pursuit force including a field artillery battery and companies from the divisional machine gun battalion, the Motor Machine Gun Corps and XIX Corps cyclists. When the Armistice with Germany came into force on 11 November, the 11th East Lancs were leading the division, and scouts reported that there were no enemy in front.[6][49][50][51]