• Men of the North Midland Division in Shaftesbury Road, Luton, in 1915.

Many fine tales have been told of the bravery and devotion to duty of the North Midland Division, but rarely have they been mentioned by name in despatches. There are a large number of local men in the North Midland Division, and almost as large as a number in the London Territorials, and it is with pride that we learn that these two fine bodies of troops, containing so many of our local lads, have been fighting side by side, and have been mentioned for their good work in Sir Douglas Haig's despatch published on Thursday.

The reference reads: "On the left of our attack North Midland and London Territorials, attacking on both sides of the Wieltje-Gravenstafel and St Julien-Gravenstafel roads, also captured their objectives and beat off a counter-attack.

"In this area our line has been advanced to a depth of half a mile across country defended by a large number of fortified farms and concreted redoubts.

"Early in the afternoon the enemy delivered a second counter-attack in this area with larger forces, and succeeded in pressing back our line a short distance on a narrow front. Our troops counter-attacking in turn, at once recaptured the greater part of the lost ground."

Mr Percival Phillips, the special correspondent of the Daily Graphic [newspaper], writes thus: "The work of the Londoners and the North Midland men on the left of Zonnebeke deserves the highest praise. The Londoners had had hard fighting at a fortified farm where rifled were mounted on tripods, as well as machine guns.

"It was an unusually strong redoubt, of a series lying in the fields above the Zonnebeke-Langemarck road, a little over a mile east of St Julien. Beside it was a concreted trench filled with snipers. The Londoners stormed this farm, cleared the trench, and went on to another strong point and took it as well.

"Later the Germans concentrated all their artillery in that region on them and drove back the Londoners from both redoubts without using infantry. The Londoners attacked, however, and won back the farm. Thanks to their efforts in conjunction with the Midlanders, we have thrown forward out front nearer Gravenstafel, and I hear that their part is to be commemorated by calling the ground they took 'London Ridge'."

[Beds & Herts Saturday Telegraph: September 29th, 1917]