It is worth while pausing for a moment to consider the extraordinary achievement of G.H.Q. in delivering the Arras-Vimy Ridge attack as it did on the 9th April. The preparations were on similar lines to those for the Somme offensive of the previous July, and were on an even vaster scale owing to the increased number of the divisions which it was proposed to employ and to the ever-growing strength and weight of the British artillery. The preliminary work of forming reinforcement and concentration camps, laying fresh and increasing the capacity of existing railway lines, arranging for water supply, dumps of munitions and matériel, establishment of hospitals and the hundred and one other essential tasks had been steadily proceeding since the close of the Somme offensive in November 1916.
Imagine, then, the inevitable dislocation of the scheme when, a comparatively few days before the attack was to be delivered, the enemy suddenly withdrew on part of the front from the positions it had been intended to assault and betook himself within fortified lines of enormous strength to the rear. Dumps, railheads, hospitals, water-supply, concentration areas, guns, heavy siege and light, all had to be pushed forward to fresh and rapidly selected positions in an area which had been laid waste with all the fiendish skill of which a resourceful enemy was capable, and all the consequent modifications of objectives and orders effected at the shortest possible notice. Not only was this achieved, but it was achieved with such efficiency as to produce on the 9th April the most striking single-day success which had crowned the British Armies since the outbreak of the War.
The Battalion was soon called on for its share in this "moving forward" process of the preparations for battle, and on the 28th March it marched with the remainder of the Brigade to positions in the old British trench system opposite Beaurains, where for three days it was engaged in supplying working parties. On the 1st April it was withdrawn to Brigade reserve in Achicourt where it found comfortable billets. A very large number of British heavy batteries were in action here registering and wire-cutting for the coming battle, and the continuous din of our own guns was trying. The shells of one battery of 60-pounders firing from just in rear of the Headquarters billet cleared the roof of the house by about 18 inches.
In the meantime the pursuit of the Germans had been maintained by the 56th Division, which with the 21st and 30th on its right and the 14th on its left comprised the VII Corps (D'Oyly Snow). A relief had been effected on the 1st April, the 168th and 167th Brigades taking over the Divisional sector from the 169th which was withdrawn to reserve. By the 2nd April, the Germans having reached the Hindenburg system, the line became stabilised, and no further important alteration occurred until the day of battle. When the Battalion took over the advanced trenches from the Rangers on the 3rd, therefore, the positions which they occupied formed practically the "start-line" for the 9th April.
The 56th Division occupied a salient of which the north-eastern face was on the Beaurains-Neuville-Vitasse Road, and the south-eastern face lay opposite the north-west corner of Neuville-Vitasse. On this side the British positions had been pushed forward in the direction of Neuville-Vitasse and posts were held in the old German communication trenches leading back to the village.
This sector was held by the Battalion with three companies in the front line and one in reserve in a system known as the Circular Work south-east of Beaurains. It will be readily appreciated that as the advanced British positions were outposts in different communication trenches it was necessary in order to provide a good jumping-off line for the battle to connect these up by continuous trenches to form a front line, to supply that front line with support lines and feed it with fresh communication trenches. Clearly a good deal of digging was necessary in a very short space of time, and the Battalion was heavily engaged in this work during its tour of duty, which lasted until the 7th April. The principal trenches dug were Deodar, Poplar, Lime, Elm and Skin in the front system, and Gun, How and New Battery as communication trenches.
On the 4th April the British destructive bombardment began and continued daily according to a prearranged programme until the day of battle. This met with comparatively little retaliation.
On the 7th an inter-battalion relief was effected, the Battalion vacating the line in favour of the Kensingtons and Rangers who were respectively detailed as right and left assaulting battalions. The London Scottish moved to the old British line at Agny while the 1/4th Londons returned to dugouts in the railway cutting at Achicourt. The following day battle positions were occupied, the London Scottish moving forward to close support in rear of the Kensingtons, and the 1/4th Londons to Brigade reserve in the Circular Work.
The Division's objectives for the 9th April were as follows:
The 168th (left) and 167th (right) Brigades were to advance through Neuville-Vitasse to the first objective which was an arbitrary line (the Blue line) skirting the east edge of the village and facing the Hindenburg system. (Note.—The Hindenburg line between Telegraph Hill and the Cojeul River was known as the Cojeul Switch.) This first phase was entrusted in the 168th to the Kensingtons and Rangers, the latter battalion on the left being prepared to adopt special measures and form a defensive flank facing north should the 14th Division be checked at Telegraph Hill.