Chapter I
THE FORMATION OF THE DIVISION AND TRAINING IN ENGLAND
4th August 1914 to 19th July 1915

On the 4th of August 1914 war was declared between England and Germany. Two days later Parliament sanctioned an increase of 500,000 men to the army, and in a letter to the nation on the 7th of August Lord Kitchener appealed for the immediate enrolment of 100,000 men.

The ready response to this appeal soon supplied more than sufficient men for the first six divisions of the New Army, eventually numbered 9 to 14. New battalions continued to be raised to absorb as far as possible the stream of recruits and on the 11th of September the formation of six additional divisions—the 15th to the 20th—was authorised. Thus the 20th (Light) Division came into existence. It was to be composed entirely of Rifle and Light Infantry battalions—formed into the 59th, 60th, and 61st Infantry Brigades—and Divisional troops. A few changes were made later, and the order of battle of the Division as finally constituted was as follows:—

59th Infantry Brigade

60th Infantry Brigade

61st Infantry Brigade

Pioneer Battalion

Divisional Artillery

Divisional Engineers

Signal Service

Divisional Transport and Supply

Medical Units

Originally the 12th King’s did not belong to the Division, but were an attached battalion of army troops; the 11th D.L.I. then formed part of the 61st Brigade. Towards the end of 1914 a pioneer battalion was added to each division. Being composed largely of miners, the 11th D.L.I. became the pioneer battalion of the 20th Division, and the 12th King’s then took their place in the 61st Brigade.

The Division was formed at Blackdown in September 1914. The first officer of the Divisional Staff to join was Major J. E. B. Martin, M.V.O., who at first had charge of the musketry, and who served with the Division in France as A.P.M. until September 1918. Within a few weeks Major-General R. H. Davies, C.B., a New Zealander, who had commanded the 6th Brigade in France through the critical fighting of August and September, was given command of the Division. Major-General Davies applied himself whole-heartedly to the work of training his new command, and by his personality won the complete confidence of his officers and men. It is largely due to him that the 20th on arrival in France was a thoroughly efficient division. He was ably assisted by his two senior staff officers, Lieut.-Colonel W. R. N. Madocks, G.S.O. 1, and Lieut.-Colonel F. C. Dundas, A.A. and Q.M.G., both of whom served with the Division for over two years. At this time the 59th Brigade was commanded by Colonel G. Leslie, the 60th by Colonel A. E. W. Colville, C.B., and the 61st by Colonel O’D. C. Grattan, D.S.O. Brig.-General John Hotham became the C.R.A. and Colonel E. R. Kenyon the C.R.E. Early in 1915 the 20th Divisional Ammunition Column was formed under Lieut.-Colonel J. R. Foster, who although over sixty years of age commanded the column until the end of the war.

The whole of the Division was not concentrated in one area. The 59th and 60th Brigades were at Blackdown, and the artillery near by at Deepcut. The battalions of the 61st Brigade were at Aldershot and later at Woking; the R.E. units were trained at Chatham. The field ambulances remained at Aldershot, where they carried out nearly all their training, joining the Division only in the following June, a little over a month before embarkation for France.

Throughout the period of training, but particularly in the early days at Blackdown, there was the greatest difficulty in getting clothing and equipment. No uniform was available until November, when a suit of emergency blue was issued to each man. A certain number of old rifles for drill purposes became available about the same time. There were so few S.M.L.E. rifles in some battalions that only one or two companies could fire at a time, and even then each detail after firing had to hand over the rifles to another detail waiting to fire. The artillery at first had only enough harness for one six-horse team in each brigade. The shortage of saddles was made good to a certain extent by private gifts. Each brigade had two 90-mm. and two 15-pr. guns, but these had no sights. Wooden sights and wooden guns were improvised to carry out battery gun drill. It was not until February that one 18-pr. gun was issued to each battery.

There was no lack of men in the Division, many units being well over establishment; the main difficulty to be contended with was the shortage of regular officers and N.C.O.’s to carry out the training. For a few weeks one or two experienced officers and a few re-enlisted N.C.O.’s in each battalion and artillery brigade were confronted with the task of turning a thousand totally untrained men into an efficient and well-disciplined fighting force. The task was made possible by the unbounded enthusiasm of the men, all of whom had volunteered immediately after the outbreak of the war and whose one desire was to learn their job and to get out to France.

In February 1915 the Division moved to Witley. Some of the units were encamped or billeted near Guildford and Godalming; others, after marching to Witley in the pouring rain, went into a camp there described as a sea of mud with damp and leaky huts. The training now became more interesting, and included tactical schemes. Officers and N.C.O.’s had joined or had been promoted, and the issue of service dress begun at Blackdown was completed. A large number of horses, guns and equipment for the artillery became available, the stamp of draught horse obtained at this time being particularly good. The Divisional Ammunition Column had to be completed with mules.

At the beginning of April the Division moved by road to Salisbury Plain, covering the sixty-three miles in four days—a creditable performance, as the weather was warm and the roads were dusty, and the men marched for the first time in full marching order. Three months of hard work followed; field firing and night operations were carried out in addition to tactical exercises which often involved a long march to the training area and back.

At this time the number of field companies per division was increased to three, and the 96th Field Company, which had originally formed part of the 26th Division, joined the 20th on the 15th of May.

The three field ambulances, having completed nine months of hard training at Aldershot, often under most unpleasant conditions, joined the Division on Salisbury Plain in June.

Meanwhile the transport and equipment of units were being completed, and everything pointed to an early departure. The Division was finally inspected by the King towards the end of June, and a month later embarked for France.