Issue 1: Scots on the Western Front
Military tactics – Background
Before the War, Germany believed war with Russia was extremely likely. If war broke out, Germany assumed France would also attack as they were allies with Russia. If this happened, Germany would face a war on two fronts – something they wanted to avoid at all costs. Germany therefore created the Schlieffen Plan:
Germany planned to invade France through Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg as well as across the French-German border. Having rapidly conquered northern France and taken Paris, they would leave a small occupying force to control the country and then take most of their forces east for a major attack on Russia. The Russian army was so old fashioned and slow that they would hardly be ready by the time all of this happened.
However, the plan failed and the Germans couldn’t sweep round the west and south of Paris. Their attack ground to a halt and they had to divide their troops between the Eastern Front to fight the Russians and the Western Front to fight the French, Belgians and British. Our course focuses on the Western Front as this is where Scottish soldiers fought.
Military tactics – Trenches
By Autumn1914 the Germans had begun to dig defensive trenches to hold onto the land they had taken. Britain, France and Belgium raced to create a trench line to protect key sea ports that gave access to the English Channel and North Sea. To avoid being outflanked, both sides started making their trenches wider and wider and soon the line of trenches ran from the English Channel to the Swiss border: the trenches were anything from 100 metres to a mile apart and were 500 miles long.
The trenches were very good defensive lines so it became easier to defend than attack and each side soon found it difficult to advance against the enemy without suffering huge numbers of casualties.
Frontline trenches were usually about seven feet deep and 6 feet wide. Both the front and back of the trench would have a thick line of sandbags to absorb any bullets or shell fragments.
In a trench this deep it was impossible to see over the top, so a two or three foot ledge known as a fire step was added. Duck-boards were placed at the bottom to protect soldiers from problems such as trench-foot which is caused by standing in water too long and causes flesh to rot. Soldiers also made dug outs in the side of the trenches to give the some protection from the weather and enemy fire.
TASK
Draw and label your own profile picture of a front line trench (shown above). You may want to include a dug-out.
The frontline trenches were also protected by barbed – wire entanglements and machine-gun posts. Short trenches called “saps” (sapping trenches) were dug from the front trench into no man’s land. The sap head, usually about 30 yards forward of the front line, were then used a listening posts.
Trenches were not dug in straight lines because if an enemy managed to get into your trench they could shoot straight along the line. Also, if a shell exploded in one area, it was held within the zig-zag rather than blowing up a larger area. Each trench was dug with alternative fire-bays and traverses which gave them a zigzag shape.
Behind the front line trenches were support and reverse trenches. The three rows of trenches covered between 200 and 500 metres of ground. Communication trenches were dug and an angle to the frontline and were used to transport men, equipment and food supplies.
TASK
1. Study your copy of the trench diagram in your jotter. Check you can remember the meaning of the following terms: No man’s land, duck board, fire step, sap, dug-out and parados.
2. Why were trenches not dug in straight lines?
3. What were communication trenches used for?
Attacking the enemy’s trench was understandably very dangerous. The German trenches were superior to the British and French and therefore gave them a stronger base to defend from. Every day at dawn men on both sides stood to attention waiting to defend an enemy attack. Often it didn’t come, but if it did they had to be prepared to defend their trench and their lives.
On both sides attacks (often called a “Push”)generally followed the same pattern. The repeated nature of the attacks time and time again led to thousands of brave young soldiers being massacred on the battlefields. These poor military tactics has led to the phrase, “Lions led by Donkeys” being used to describe the Generals and infantry soldiers.
TASK
Think: What does “Lions led by Donkeys” mean?
Pair: up with a partner and discuss your thoughts.
Share: be prepared to share your views with the class.
Typical Trench attack:
At night, work parties quietly moved into no-man’s-land and removed barbed wire.
Enemy trenches were bombarded by artillery often for several days and nights.
As the bombardment continued, attacking soldiers stood waiting on the signal to charge. Defenders hid in dugouts or, in the German’s case, concrete lined bunkers deep underground.
When the bombardment stopped, the attackers blew a whistle and went ‘over the top’. Defenders scrambled to get to their defensive position in frontline trenches and fire at the attackers.
Attackers had to run across No Man’s Land and through enemy barbed wire – to start with, British commanders insisted non-professional soldiers who had been recruited by Kitchener had to walk across!
Enemy front line trenches were attacked.
Hand grenades were thrown into dug outs and if a soldier was lucky enough to get across no-man’s-land they could shoot into the enemy’s trench.
A second wave of attackers was often sent in to attack the enemy’s reserve trench.
Captured enemy trenches were usually lost immediately as they counter attacked the now weakened attackers.
Attackers rarely made much progress before being shot to shreds by defenders. That being the case, defenders usually launched a counter attack in the hope of gaining territory from their fleeing foes.
Generally speaking, there was a lot of death and destruction.
TASK
- Make a timeline/list/mind map/note on what happened during a typical trench attack.
- You want this to be detailed!
The Battle of Loos
The Battle of The Somme is probably the most famous British battle of the First World War. However, the Battle of Loos is more famous for Scottish regiments who fought there so it will be our main focus.
TASK
- Imagine you are a Scottish soldier who survived the Battle of Loos and write a diary account of events.
- You want this to be detailed!
In September 1915, 35,000 Scots took part in an attack, and half of the seventy-two infantry battalions that took part in the battle had Scottish names. Out of the 21,000 dead over 7,000 were Scottish soldiers. Almost every town and village in Scotland was affected by the losses at the Battle of Loos.
The Battle of Loos has been described as an unnecessary and unwanted battle. The French wanted the British to attack at Loos to divert German forces away from the French who were planning their own attack. British commanders did not agree. They knew that Kitchener’s new armies were not fully trained and wanted to wait until 1916 before launching these new armies into attacks. General Haig, who was to be in charge of the battle, had serious worries about the area of attack. His armies would have to advance over flat land with no cover at all. The attacking British forces would be in full view of German machine gunners. Despite this, the French still wanted the British attack to go ahead and appealed directly to Kitchener, who was himself under pressure to do all he could to encourage British and French co-operation. He agreed the attack should go ahead.
The Battle of Loos is famous for being the first time the British army used poisoned gas as a weapon. When German troops had used gas one year earlier the Allies condemned such wickedness. Now that Britain had the technology to use gas themselves, Haig planned to release chlorine gas from canisters but the plan was dependent on a steady wind blowing towards the Germans.
Haig planned to attack with six divisions. Three were from the regular army, mostly made up from Scottish battalions, including the Black Watch, the Cameron Highlanders, the Highland Light Infantry, the Cameronians, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, Scots Fusiliers and Gordon Highlanders. Another was a Territorial Army division and the other two were made up entirely of volunteers – the 9th and 15th Scottish.Loos was the first time Kitchener’s armies of volunteers had been used in a major attack.
In Source ATed Jackson of the Cameron Highlanders remembers the night before the attack.
Instead of going to rest for a few hours we gathered in groups talking over our chances in the morning. We commenced singing. All the old favourites were sung one by one, bringing back memories of training days. Then friends wished each other “good luck”; friends who knew that the next day would find many of them on the casualty list.The battle began on the 25th September 1915, after a four-day artillery bombardment. There is some confusion about the effectiveness of the gas attack. Some reports suggest the force of the artillery bombardment stopped the gas crossing to the German positions, others suggest the wind changed and blew back in the faces of the attacking Scots. The 10th Highland Light Infantry were gassed as they waited to go ‘ower the bags’, a phrase used by the Scots meaning to go over the top. Further along the front line, the King’s Own Scottish Borderers prepared to advance but were held up by the gas and shellfire. It looked like the attack might fail until Piper Daniel Laidlaw climbed onto the parapet.
Source B isDaniel Laidlaw’s account of events.
At 6.30 the bugles sounded the advance and I got over the parapet with Lieutenant Young. At once I got the pipes going and the laddies gave a cheer as they started off for the enemy’s lines. As soon as they showed themselves over the trench top they began to fall fast, but they never wavered, but dashed straight on as I played the old tune they all knew ‘Blue Bonnets over the Border’. I ran forward with them piping for all I knew, and just as we were getting near the German lines I was wounded by shrapnel in the left ankle and leg. I was too excited to feel the pain just then, but scrambled along as best I could. I kept on piping and piping and hobbling after the laddies until I could go no further and then seeing that the boys had won the position I began to get back as best I could to our own trenches.The men of the King’s own Scottish Borders advanced and despite heavy losses they reached the Germans’ first-line trenches. Although wounded and eventually lying on the ground, Laidlaw kept playing his pipes and inspiring the advancing soldiers. Later he was awarded the Victoria Cross for his bravery.
In many parts of the battlefield the Germans were pushed back. The Seaforth Highlanders, the Cameron Highlanders and the Black Watch all pushed into the German trenches but the casualties were enormous. Reinforcements were needed and suddenly the attack plan fell apart.
General Haig was in charge of the attack but Sir John French, commander of the British Expeditionary Force, was in charge of reserve troops and he was reluctant to send in reserves made up of the mainly untried soldiers’ of Kitchener’s New Army who were tired after a 40-mile long march in heavy rain. Meanwhile German reinforcements arrived and they repaired most of their damaged defences including the barbed wire. After 24 hours of indecision and delay the British reinforcements were sent into battle but the British attack had lost the element of surprise, they had no gas cover and the Germans were waiting.
The German machine guns cut down the men from Kitchener’s army in their thousands. Eventually the slaughter became so bad the German gunners stopped firing to allow the British to withdraw and take their wounded with them.
Far from being demoralised and weakened by the slaughter, the Scots gained a huge reputation as feared and aggressive fighting troops. On 1st October 1915 Sir Henry Rawlinson said ‘as a fighter, there is none to beat a Scotsman and a Highlander for preference’.
One longer term result of the failure at Loos was the Sir John French was replaced as commander by Douglas Haig, a Scot who would forever be associated with another battle on the Western Front – the Battle of the Somme.