A History of the 66th (2nd East Lancashire) Division During the Great
War
The End of the 66th Division
I began this with a description of the Northern character of this division,
of its roots in the cotton and manufacturing towns of Lancashire, and
it is for that reason that I have decided to conclude this paper at this
point rather than in November 1918. The Division was shattered after its
magnificent defence in March and between 9 April and 18 September it was
reduced to the status of a Training Cadre, training amongst many others
the 30th American Division.
In September the Division was re-constituted and went on to become one
of the BEF’s ‘crack’ spearhead divisions under the remarkable
Hugh Keppell Bethell. However this division was not the 66th of old. Its
battalions were broken up and amalgamated with other units whilst 197
Brigade had disappeared entirely. 198 Brigade still continued now under
the command of Sir Anthony Eden, whilst GC Williams continued to command
199 Brigade.
However of the battalions left the bulk were either Irish or South African
with only the 2/6 LF and 2/9 Manchesters surviving. Even their regional
identity was only nominal made up as they were of men from all over Britain
and containing few ‘Northern Lads’
So for me the true history of the 66th Division ends with the March battles.
A history not of great victories but one of a much more Northern type
of heroism. Of all the qualities that this forgotten but remarkable ‘ordinary’
division possessed one stands out. - Their endurance. Despite the rigours
of LA BASSEE, the horrors of YPRES, and the savagery of the German Spring
Offensives the men of this unsung and mostly forgotten division never
gave up. For that we owe them both respect and a profound debt of gratitude.
NOTES
-
Guggisberg was twice married: first, on the 20th September 1895
in Trichinopoly, Madras Presidency, South India to Ethel Emily Hamilton
Way, daughter of Colonel Wilfred FitzAlan Way, of the Northumberland
Fusiliers whom he divorced in 1904 and by whom he had three daughters;
secondly, on the 15th August 1905 in Staines to (Lilian) Decima Moore,
the actress, daughter of Edward Henry Moore, of Brighton, county analyst.
-
In 1973 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the construction
of Korle-Bu Hospital in Accra, the Ghanaian government honoured Guggisberg
with the erection of a large statue, a rare tribute paid by a post-colonial
government to one of it's colonial governors2
-
2/Lt James Milton HAYES, MC, 2/7th Manchesters. Wrote ‘The
Green Eye of the Yellow God’ in 1911 – ‘There's
a one-eyed yellow idol to the north of Khatmandu…’. Won
MC on 8th October 1917. Captured in March 1918.
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