On the 16th September the infantry of the Division withdrew for a rest, the guns remaining in the line, as usual, under the 3rd Division. Lieut. S. A. Rissik was wounded this day. No further advance was made for some days, but preparations were set in hand for another great attack to be begun by the 3rd Division, and carried on afterwards by the 62nd.
On the 18th the enemy counter-attacked heavily. For about two and a half hours he kept up a bombardment of extraordinary intensity, and shells of all sizes, about half of them gas, were falling in and around our batteries; over a hundred shell craters were afterwards counted in B/312's position alone. All communication lines were cut, but the batteries fired hard on their S.O.S. lines, and the attack finally broke down. In this action Lieuts. H. J. Dowden and C. F. M. Douet won their Military Crosses:
"In response to an S.O.S., Lieut. Dowden at once got all the guns into action, and maintained a quick rate of fire in spite of a heavy barrage. He fired one gun himself until the detachment was collected, and then assisted to bind up a wounded officer."
Lieut. Douet was "in charge of a forward section of his battery when it was firing S.O.S. under heavy bombardment, previous to a hostile counter attack. One of his guns was put out of action and the detachment incapacitated, the detachment of the other gun were killed or wounded. He, with an N.C.O., worked the gun until the order to cease fire was received."
On the 25th Capt. K. B. Nicholson, M.C., was wounded.
We moved our headquarters on the 26th to a dug-out just north of Hermies, and at 5.20 a.m. on the 27th the battle began. The 3rd Division advanced under an artillery barrage and captured the strong defensive positions of Flesquières and Ribecourt. The artillery command then passed to me, and the 62nd Division, pushing on through the 3rd, pressed forward towards Marcoing and captured a strong line of defence between that village and Flesquières, taking prisoner 15 officers and about 300 other ranks. The victory was complete all along the line, Bourlon Wood having fallen to the Canadians and Graincourt to the 17th Corps.
Next day we continued our advance, captured Marcoing, and secured the crossings of the St. Quentin Canal. The 186th Infantry Brigade pushed on the same night and secured an important line of trench east of the Canal. We moved Divisional Headquarters to a dug-out on the Graincourt road just north of Havrincourt. In these two days' fighting our Division had captured about 60 officers and 1600 rank and file, together with 49 guns and howitzers. On the 29th the action was continued, and the Division took Masnières. Our headquarters shifted to a dug-out east of Flesquières, the battery positions being now for the most part in the area south of Marcoing. We were much gratified at receiving the following telegram to the Division from our former Commander, Lieut.-General Sir W. P. Braithwaite:
"To General Whigham, 62nd Division. Just heard of your great success at Ribecourt and Marcoing. It is all splendid and just like 62. Will you allow me to congratulate you and the Division and to say how very proud I am to have once commanded so splendid a Division."
Oct. 1918.
The 3rd Division relieved our infantry during the night of the 30th September and captured Rumilly under an artillery barrage on the 1st October.