About 10 o'clock that morning Lieut.-Col. Marchment and the company commanders were ordered to Humbercamp to receive battle orders, but after an hour's fruitless waiting the company commanders returned to prepare their companies for action, and the Colonel went to try and get what orders he could at Brigade Headquarters. Here he was informed that the attack would take place in sixteen hours' time—early on the 23rd August! The general idea of the Battalion's rôle was explained to Lieut.-Col. Marchment to be the capture of the village of Boyelles and the Marc system of trenches immediately north of it, the attack to commence at 4.55 a.m. on the 23rd August, two companies in line, one in support and one in reserve. Artillery support would be provided by 6 brigades of field guns firing an unregistered barrage, while 21 tanks would take part in the attack. A section of the Divisional Machine-gun Company would be attached to the Battalion. With this somewhat sketchy information Lieut.-Col. Marchment hurried back to the Battalion to set it in motion, and by 5 p.m. it was on its way to the first assembly position at Blairville. Here it occupied the old German trenches exactly opposite the first trench sector ever held by the 2/4th Battalion in February 1917.
The line facing Boyelles was at this time occupied by the 59th Division, and the 168th Brigade was detailed to attack through them, with the Guards Division opposite Hamelincourt on its right, and the 52nd Division north of the north branch of the Cojeul River on its left. The Brigade order of battle from right to left was Kensingtons (south of Boyelles); 1/4th Londons (Boyelles); and London Scottish (Boiry-Becquerelle); the 1st Londons being attached in Brigade reserve for the operation.
Leaving the Battalion on the march Lieut.-Col. Marchment hurried on to Blairville by car to see the Brigadier of the brigade in line (59th Division) and was at once faced by another difficulty in finding that the 59th Division had themselves taken over the front trenches only the preceding night! Clearly not much possibility of assistance from them; but they arranged to provide guides to lead our platoons to the positions of final assembly.
The sudden transfer of the 56th Division from the XVII to the VI Corps, and the subsequent difficulty in obtaining orders must have been caused by some reason of great importance: we are not aware what it was. Certainly the effect was not to make things easier. Indeed, when the Divisional attack order was issued by Gen. Hull at 3 p.m. on the 22nd August he had not received the written instructions of VI Corps. But, starting under such inauspicious circumstances, all the more credit is due to the battalions, and in particular to the commanding officers, for the signal successes which were ultimately achieved. Reconnaissance of the ground by officers and N.C.O.'s was obviously out of the question, and Lieut.-Col. Marchment had to content himself with explaining the situation to them while battle stores were issued to the men.
At 10.30 p.m. the Battalion moved off by platoons in charge of the 59th Division guides, who, considering their own scanty acquaintance with the ground, did well, for they brought almost the whole Battalion to its assembly positions in Falcon Trench well on time, though one platoon of A Company and the Headquarter details went sadly astray and did not turn up till long after zero hour. The Padre believes he was taken for a long walk somewhere round Albert! During the march up the enemy was using gas shell freely, and masks had to be worn at times, but little loss was caused.
The Battalion was drawn up as follows:
| Right front | —B Company, Capt. R. S. B. Simmonds. |
| Left front | —D Company, Capt. C. W. Rowlands, M.C. |
| Support | —C Company, Capt. H. A. T. Hewlett. |
| Reserve | —A Company, Capt. H. N. Williams, M.C. |
The hour or two of darkness before zero was spent in cutting lanes through our wire, and at 4.55 a.m. the barrage opened, intense and well distributed. Lieut.-Col. Marchment describes it as the best and most tremendous he had ever seen. The scene from Headquarters was extraordinary: the intense shrapnel barrage and smoke on the German front line, the medium howitzers firing on Boyelles village beyond, and the heavies cutting up the distant landscape in dense black clouds; and behind it all the sun just rising.
At 5.7 a.m. the companies moved forward. The right company (B) made good use of the railway embankment, and following the line on its south side advanced on a one-platoon frontage to Boyelles Station, while three tanks entered the village. Here the railway was crossed and a good deal of opposition was met with from enemy machine-guns, heavy and light, firing from the eastern half of the village. These were, however, skilfully outflanked and rounded up to the number of 3 heavy and 8 light guns, after which the company pushed forward and caught up the barrage.
Two platoons halted approximately on the Blue line (first objective) on the eastern edge of Boyelles, while two pressed on to Boyelles Trench 500 yards further east. But few enemy were encountered in this advanced position. B Company being now well distributed in depth, the work of consolidation was put in hand. The right flank was not yet in touch with the Kensingtons and was therefore rounded off by pushing two Lewis gun sections and one subsection M.G.C. southwards towards the railway.