Читать книгу The History of the 7th Battalion Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders - Norman Macleod - Страница 4

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By Divisional Commanders.

 Lieut.-General Sir F. W. N. M'Cracken, K.C.B., D.S.O.

 Major-General H. F. Thuillier, C.B., C.M.G.

 Major-General H. L. Reed, V.C., C.B., C.M.G.

Having commanded the 15th (Scottish) Division for two years and a quarter, I have followed with deep interest this history of the 7th Cameron Highlanders.

I am convinced that all who read of the gallant deeds performed by this Battalion, in company with the other Battalions of the 15th (Scottish) Division, in the service of their King and Country, will be stirred with an intense feeling of pride in the achievements of their countrymen recorded in this little book.

The Battalion has indeed nobly maintained the splendid traditions of the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders.

F. W. N. M'CRACKEN.

Lieut.-General.

24/3/22.

This is a great story. A narrative of the adventures in training camps, in billets and trenches, in battles and in periods of rest, of one of the units of that splendid body of men known as the "New Armies" which sprang into being in 1914 under the inspiration of Lord Kitchener. A story of comradeship, endeavour and sacrifice in the great cause.

By far the greater part of it deals with the periods of fighting, and it is doubtful whether any of the New Army units saw more, for the famous 15th Scottish Division, of which the 7th Camerons formed part, was one of the earliest of the new divisions to go to the front and take a place in the line, and its record includes the battles of Loos, the Somme, Arras 1917, Ypres 1917, the German attack on Arras in 1918, and the capture of Buzancy in the Soissons area in August 1918, as part of the 10th French Army under General Mangin.

I had two opportunities during the war of judging the fighting qualities of the 15th Division. The first was when serving with the 1st Division, which attacked alongside the 15th at Loos. The energy and enthusiasm with which the Scotsmen prepared for the attack, and the dash and determination with which they executed it, excited the highest admiration of their regular comrades of the 1st Division. The two divisions served in the same Corps for some months in the ensuing winter, succeeding each other in and out of the water-logged trench lines of the Loos Salient, and the admiration aroused by their action in the battle was deepened by the observation of their soldierly qualities under the trying conditions of trench warfare in winter.

The second time I was a more intimate observer, for I had the supreme privilege of being appointed to the command of the 15th Division in June, 1917, just as it was entering the Ypres Salient to take part in the desperate and bloody fighting of the efforts to capture the Passchendaele Ridge. Its personnel had largely changed, owing to the casualties of the Somme and Arras, but the Scottish fighting spirit was there still, and the dour and stubborn valour with which, after seizing and holding the Frezenberg Ridge, they essayed again and again to win the concrete defences of Borry Farm, Beck House, Iberian House, etc., under indescribable conditions of mud, shell-fire and gas, forms a story which has not yet been fully told.

In this fighting, as in all the other operations of the Division, the 7th Camerons bore a full and gallant share. The last of the German efforts to retake the Frezenberg Ridge was broken up by a skilfully led counter-attack by a company of this Battalion with one of the 8th Seaforths.

The last time I saw the 7th Camerons was after the return of the Division to the Arras Sector in September, 1917, when they were encamped in Blangy Park in the Scarpe Valley. To men who had been through what they had it was, as the narrator says, a delightful change and rest. But rest, although more than well earned, was not accompanied by any slackness or loss of discipline. I was particularly struck by the state of their camp, its excellent order and cleanliness; cooking and sanitary arrangements all that they should be, the men healthy and in good spirits. A rapid recovery after heavy fighting is a mark of a first-class battalion.

Colonel Norman Macleod had the good fortune to serve with the Battalion from the day it crossed the Channel till it was amalgamated with the 6th Camerons in June, 1918 (except a short time when recovering from wounds). He commanded it for 15 months, and subsequently commanded the combined 6th/7th Battalion until the end. It would be a record of which any one might well be proud merely to have taken part in the great events comprised in that period, but to have commanded this splendid battalion, and to have been with it from its first raising in Scotland to its victorious entry into Brussels after the armistice, during all the period it was gathering its imperishable laurels and adding lustre to the name of the historic regiment whose name it bears, is an honour which he probably would not change for any other, however high.

It is well that such stories should be told. To the survivors of the events they narrate they are a reminder of great days and great friendships. To future generations of Scottish lads they will be an inspiration.

H. F. THUILLIER,

Major-General.

30/5/22.

This modest record of the services of a great battalion in the Great War adds yet another page to the glorious history of "The Queen's Own" Cameron Highlanders.

I had the honour to command the 15th (Scottish) Division from October, 1917, to March, 1918. During the first year of that period this Battalion, or perhaps I should say these Battalions, for the 6th, the 7th and the 6/7th Cameron Highlanders are almost inseparable in my mind, were most severely tried on many occasions in battle, most notably in front of Arras in March, 1918, and South of Soissons in July, 1918.

The authors state that the battle of the 28th March, 1918, was probably the heaviest fighting in which the 7th Battalion ever took part. Lieut.-General Sir Charles Fergusson, Commanding the XVII. Corps, when the great German attack was foreseen, had warned the 15th Division that it was in a "Post of Honour," adding: "I am glad that it is in the hands of a Scottish Division, who I know will never let the enemy pass." Again on the 29th March, after the great attack, General Fergusson wired: "I knew you could be relied on to stick it out to the end. There are fresh troops in support of you now, but I want the honour of holding Arras to be yours alone."

General Ludendorff, in his Memoirs, practically attributes the turning point of his hopes of success to the failure of the 17th German Army to capture the heights East and North of Arras, this "in spite of employing a vast amount of artillery and ammunition." I am sure all comrades of the 15th (Scottish) Division will agree that no unit of ours deserved more credit for stopping the Germans in front of Arras than the 7th Cameron Highlanders.

During the period, December, 1918, to March, 1919, the troops were tried in a different way. A time of absolute inactivity prevailed in Belgium, with many temptations for all ranks to be slack and to allow discipline to deteriorate. A natural reaction after the strain of war. There was also a feeling, rightly or wrongly, that in the system of demobilisation length of service at the front was not always considered. During this difficult time the 6/7th Cameron Highlanders retained their splendid discipline and still upheld their claim to the nickname "The Shiny Seventh."

The authors refer to their firm belief in the advantages of the kilt as a service dress. Opinions may differ on this point, but there is no question as to the prestige and confidence which the kilt carries with it.

When we moved suddenly to join the Xth French Army in July, 1918, the British troops were, for some reason, temporarily out of favour in that area, but the sight of the Highlanders, and the sound of the bagpipes, changed this feeling at once, and nothing could have exceeded the enthusiasm with which the 15th Division was received in billets during this period of operations.

Again, on the coldest of days in January, 1919, when troops of three Divisions marched past His Majesty, the King of the Belgians, in Brussels, there was a sudden roar of applause from the half-frozen crowd as the kilted pipers leading the 45th Infantry Brigade, which represented the infantry of the 15th Division, approached. The 6/7th Cameron Highlanders swung past; His Majesty turned to me and said: "Truly magnificent soldiers." Those who read this narrative will agree that this splendid tribute was deserved.

H. L. REED,

Major-General.

2/4/22.