page_title: 1st Aberdeenshire Artillery Volunteers
section_title: Ypres
hierarchical_section_title: 1st Aberdeenshire Artillery Volunteers / World War I / 1/I Highland Brigade / Ypres
caption_attribution_description: HAULING A GUN OUT OF THE MUD, ZILLEBEKE, 1917 British soldiers haul an 18 pdr field gun out of the mud near Zillebeke.
context_page_description: The 1st Aberdeenshire Artillery Volunteers was a part-time unit of the British Army raised in Aberdeenshire and neighbouring counties in Scotland in 1860. Its successor units served with 51st Division through many of the major battles on the Western Front during World War I. In World War II one of its regiments escaped the surrender of the 51st Division in 1940 and went on to serve as heavy artillery in the Italian Campaign. The other regiment served with the reconstituted division at Alamein, in Sicily, Normandy and through North West Europe to the Rhine Crossing and beyond. It served on in the Territorial Army until 1967.
context_section_description: An even greater concentration of guns was massed for the Third Ypres Offensive, but the circumstances were less favourable. Gun batteries were packed into the Ypres Salient, where they were under observation and counter-battery (CB) fire from the Germans on the higher ground. Casualties among guns and gunners were high even before Zero hour on 31 July (the Battle of Pilckem Ridge). Two thirds of the field guns fired a creeping barrage, the other third and the 4.5-inch howitzers provided the standing barrage. 51st (H) Division reached the German second line and was consolidating when it was hit by a German counter-bombardment followed by a counter-attack. The British guns fired their pre-arranged protective barrages and destroyed the counterattack. Gains had been made, but now the rain came, and the guns had to move up through shell-churned mud to fresh positions before the attack could be renewed, and continued to suffer badly from German CB fire. 51st (H) Division was relieved on 8 August.
  The division was back in the line for the Battle of the Menin Road Ridge starting at 05.40 on 20 September. This was a limited attack made with massive artillery support. 51st (H) Division attacked towards the Poelcappelle Spur with one brigade (154th (3rd Highland) Brigade), supported by 22 batteries of 18-pdrs and six of 4.5s. At first the going was heavy and there was strong German resistance at 'Pheasant Trench', but thereafter there were no problems and the brigade had occupied its final objective across the spur by 08.25. A heavy German bombardment in the afternoon was followed by a counter-attack, but this was completely destroyed by the British artillery.
caption: 18-pounder being hauled out of mud at Ypres, 1917
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