Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research 99/397

223

BOOK REVIEWS

LESSONS FROM THE MUD: 55TH (WEST LANCASHIRE) DIVISION AT THE THIRD BATTLE OF YPRES, by Paul Knight. Warwick: Helion and Company, 2019. ISBN: 9781912390052, pp. 464, £35.00. The Third Battle of Ypres remains a central topic in the discussion surrounding the British Army’s learning process on the Western Front during the First World War. The battle, which is heavily shrouded in myth and over-simplification based solely on the Passchendaele phases of the operation, has become a focal point for revisionist historians. These historians aim to push the falsehoods aside for a more accurate post-centenary narrative. Within this group of new works stands Paul Knight’s Lessons from the Mud, an edited collection of reports from the 55th (West Lancashire) Division during Third Ypres. This important publication depicts the ins and outs of an infantry division during the fighting in the summer and autumn of 1917. The 55th Division, made up of Territorial Force units principally drawn from areas of Liverpool and Lancashire, was already an experienced formation when it took part in two distinct actions during the Third Battle of Ypres. The first of these was the opening assault of the campaign between 31 July and 2 August 1917. Known as the Battle of Pilkem Ridge, the 55th Division assaulted a trio of German positions with the goal of reaching an objective assigned the ‘Green Line’, some 5,500 yards from the jumping-off positions. While this assault was mostly successful, it did run into difficulties at several points. The infantry lost contact with the creeping barrage meant to cover its advance, while poor organisation and a lack of supplies hampered the division’s response to the eventual German counter attacks. German field doctrine during this part of the war was to let the British overrun lightly defended front-line positions, only to have the tired attacker broken up by counter attacks. The 55th was certainly stymied by this during the Pilkem Ridge fighting. The division’s second action during the Third Battle of Ypres was the 20– 25 September Battle of the Menin Road Ridge. This assault was carried out in the same area as the earlier operation. Whilst strong resistance was encountered, the consolidation process went much more smoothly than during the earlier fighting on the Pilkem Ridge. Subsequent German counter attacks were defeated with heavy losses inflicted on the enemy. A marked change had occurred in the preparations for the counter attacks between early August and mid-September. This work stands apart from others on the campaign for one reason. Knight draws upon previously unpublished works from the men of the 55th Division. Gathered together in the papers of the divisional commander, Lieutenant- General Sir Hugh Sandham Jeudwine, were reports from various units within the division, both official and unofficial. Compiled from Jeudwine’s papers in the Liverpool Record Office, Knight has created, using the words of the 55th Division’s soldiers themselves, one of the most complete pictures of a division’s participation in any campaign yet published. These reports include battalion and company commanders’ reports, but Jeudwine also insisted upon retaining