LOOS

A BAPTISM OF FIRE AND THE END OF INNOCENCE

25TH TO 28TH sEPTEMBER 1915

Thomas’ battalion, the 11th (Service) Battalion (the Lothian Regiment), formed at Edinburgh, August 1914 and became part of the newly formed Scottish 9th Division. Advance parties left the Bordon Camp in Hampshire, 8 May 1915, with the three infantry brigades of the 9th Division crossing from Folkestone to Boulogne, a move completed by 15th May with the Division concentrating at St Omer, the Division occupied billets south of Baillieu, with Thomas Jardine’s 27th Brigade billeted around Noote Boom.

Advance parties left Bordon, 8 May 1915, with the three infantry brigades crossing from Folkestone to Boulogne, completed by 15th May concentrating St Omer. Division to billets south of Baillieu 27th Bde at Noote Boom.

The units of the Division subsequently underwent familiarisation in the front-line trenches under the tutelage of the 6th Division to help prepare the men for the fighting to come. As part of this process Thomas and his comrades received constant instruction in bombing, the only reasonable method to attack without exposure to direct fire.

A standard pattern for trench routine was for the soldier and his section and platoon to spend 4 days in the front line, then 4 days in close reserve and finally 4 at rest, although this varied enormously depending on conditions, the weather and the availability of enough reserve troops to be able to rotate them in this way. The same pattern of “units of three” was repeated for each level from platoon to division.

 Ewing, J “The History of the 9th (Scottish) Division 1914-1919” John Murray, Albemarle Street, W. 1921

Whilst the build-up of the British Army in France was steadily growing, the pressure from the French to assist the British was also growing more strident in response to the lack of action by the British. The French Army was increasingly hard-pressed and was suffering significant casualties along the extended front line. Consequently the British commanders were pressed by the French to relieve the pressure on the French fighting the war in French Artois.

The British army accepted the need to go on the offensive, despite concerns about readiness of the army in the field and the strength of the forces facing the Allies.

It was agreed that the British Army would attempt to drive back the Germans and break though the German lines. The battle would address the gap between the right of the British forces and the left of the 10th French Army.  The battle is also historically noteworthy for the first British use of poison gas.

Loos was to be the first genuinely large-scale British offensive action was nevertheless remained in a supporting role to the larger French attacks in Artois (i.e. French Third Battle of Artois), and the British appeals that the ground over which they were being called upon to advance was wholly unsuitable were rejected.

 The Allied decision was to go on the offensive with a large-scale offensive to take place at Loos, a mining area which was largely flat but dominated by high ground on a relatively prominent ridge line: to fight on ground that was not of its own choosing, and at a time not of its own choosing.

 The 27th Brigade moved into the front line on the evening of 20th May and was it was relieved on 22nd May by 26th Brigade.  By 31st May all detachments of 9th Division had received at least some experience of the trenches.  On 26 June 9th Division were ordered to relieve 7th Division in the line near Festubert, and accordingly 26th and 27th Brigades took over the front line on the nights of 1st and 2nd July with the 28th in reserve.

The date of the battle was eventually fixed for 25th September, and preparations grew apace.

The normal rotation of units continued, but the additional preparations for the coming battle were set in train. The forthcoming battle required a complex planning process that tried to anticipate all eventualities and which would of course fail because, to quote

No plan survives contact with the enemy

Helmuth von Moltke the Elder

Thomas Jardine’s 11th Royal Scots were part of the 27th Infantry Brigade, and would be in reserve, to be on hand to reinforce or develop the assault on the key objective, the Hohenzollern Redoubt. The infantry attack was to be preceded by a four day bombardment with the 18 pdr guns cutting the wire along the nemy’s front, with additional potential targets being identifed. The actual assault would be supported by the first use of poison gas by the British Army but even by this stage in the war, there was a certain familarity with gas attacks. Whilst the use of gas was hoped to be a suprise but the expectation was that its use would impair the efficiency of the enemy troops and partly demoralise them. The physical effort of setting the chlorine gas cylinders in place was an unpopular task involving 4000 men navigating trenches and slippery duck- boards, including Thomas Jardine and his comrades in the transference of some 1200 cylinders into position to release the gas.

On 2nd September 9th Division took over the 1st Division trenches east of Vermelles which would be the scene of the Division’s first battle: Loos. The Divisional history reflects that the plan was too ambitious, the author commenting that it was “impossible to condone the reckless optimism that shaped the plans for the Battle of Loos which revealed a disposition to underrate the adversary”. The Loos battle would close a gap between the right of the British forces and the left of the 10th French Army .

The 9th Division would assault the German lines, with two brigades (26th and 28th) supported by Thomas Jardine’s 27th brigade of 11th Royal Scots, 12th Royal Scots, 6th Royal Scots Fusiliers, with 10th Argylls in reserve. The preparatory bombardment would target cutting the wire in front of the German trenches. In the event, the bombardment was ineffective, with insufficent shells of insufficient weight and type of shell to clear the way to the objective. The assault would be accompanied by the first use of gas shells by the British Army together with smoke shells fired to mask the assault.

In the event these measures were ineffective: the wind changed and the assault went on without sufficient cover and with only the bravery of men enabling any chance of success.

According to the Divisional history “The centre 9th (Scottish) Division had to attack the formidable obstacle of the Hohenzollern Redoubt and Fosse 8, the high location of the main enemy observation posts looking across the whole battlefield. Preparations had included Russian saps to close the distance to be covered, and effective observed heavy shelling. The lead units of 26th Brigade suffered casualties as they cleared the gas and smoke, but advanced through well-cut wire to quickly take the front face of the Redoubt. The 7/Seaforths reached Fosse Trench – the rear of the redoubt – soon after 7.00am, and pressed on towards Fosse 8.”