A certain amount of shelling was encountered on the way up to the assembly position, and the Battalion lost, among others, Sergeant Moore, signals sergeant, one of the few remaining “17th of March men,” who had been present with the Civil Service Rifles throughout their stay in France.
The assembly position was reached at 5.0 a.m., and zero was at 5.30 a.m.
Some anxiety was felt when, at three minutes before zero, the 1st Surrey Rifles had not arrived, but thanks to Second Lieutenant Gray, the Civil Service Intelligence Officer, touch was established before zero.
After a five minutes’ “crash” by the artillery, “C” and “D” Companies moved forward behind a creeping barrage to take the final objective, followed by “A” and “B” Companies, who were to be in support in trenches running north and south, quarter of a mile east of Rancourt.
The attack was completely successful, prisoners beginning to come down within ten minutes of zero.
Lieutenant E. R. Lascelles, commanding “C” Company, was killed early in the advance, but otherwise the losses were slight, and by 7.30 a.m. all objectives had been reached, and were being consolidated. Touch was obtained with the East Surreys (55th Brigade) on the left, but there was a gap on the right, the 1st Surrey Rifles having been held up.
During the process of consolidation “B” and “D” Companies were shelled heavily from a German Field Gun Battery which remained in action in the open, firing over open sights from about 1,000 yards’ range.
An attempt by the enemy to rush through the gap on the right was prevented by Lewis gun and rifle fire from developing, and this brought to a close a good day’s work in which the Civil Service Rifles had taken 150-200 prisoners and ten machine guns.
The battle, however, was by no means over, and at 11.30 p.m. the Battalion was relieved by the London Irish and marched to an assembly position on the Rancourt-Peronne road, just S.W. of Bouchavesnes and 300 yards north of the old quarry there, in readiness for a further attack the next morning. Arrived at this assembly position, the Company cooks again earned the gratitude of their comrades by producing an excellent hot meal.
The operation of the 1st of September had been simple and straightforward, and had been carried out without a hitch, but a much more complicated attack took place on the 2nd.