“At the beginning of the attack, after the Portuguese had been forced back, the plan of the German High Command was checked thanks to the indomitable resistance which was offered by the British right flank. There the enemy found established a Lancashire Division—the 55th—which will certainly be mentioned in the communique. It is the least that can be done for this Division. For ten hours three German Divisions tried in vain to dislodge it.”
“Le Matin,” April 13th, 1918:—
“It was there that the 55th Division—as I have already told you—held on and triumphed. I wanted to see with my own eyes some of these bravest of the brave. But before seeing them I had already seen their prisoners....
“‘One should be almost proud to have been beaten by such men,’ said one prisoner who belonged to the German nobility.
“An Officer of the highest rank said to them (the 55th):
“‘You have accomplished one of the finest feats-of-arms—perhaps the finest of the whole war.’
“It is true. They had fought to the limit of the impossible.”
On the 28th we moved into the right sector and relieved the 1/4th King’s Own—A Company to MAIRIE REDOUBT, B Company to DEATH OR GLORY SAP, C and D to GUNNERS’ SIDING. The sap had been heavily trench-mortared before we took over, and parts of it were blown in. One Other Rank was killed and four wounded. The award of the French Croix de Guerre to Sergeant J. Cookson was announced.
On the 29th, DEATH OR GLORY SAP was heavily “minnied.” Two Other Ranks were killed and three wounded. On the 30th, there was some heavy shelling, though only one man was wounded, but we lost one man killed and one wounded from minenwerfer the following day. On the 2nd we were relieved by the 1/5th King’s Liverpool Regiment, 12 men being wounded in the course of the day, and went back to rest.