D Company (2/Lieut. J. L. Backhouse) on the right—to advance over the area west of the Hindenburg line by way of Sensée Avenue, Nelly Avenue and Queen's Lane.
B Company (2/Lieut. G. G. Lewis) to advance down Burg Support, the old Hindenburg front trench.
A Company (Capt. H. N. Williams, M.C.) and C Company (Capt. J. W. Price), Headquarters and 1 section M.G.C. attached, to advance down Tunnel Trench, the old Hindenburg support trench.
The attack was to be launched at 12.30 p.m. on the 24th August under a creeping barrage.
The fight throughout the day proved a laborious and confused affair. Trouble developed which doubtless originated on the previous evening when the Queen's Westminsters, relieved by the London Scottish in the Summit area, had moved forward to assembly. This gallant regiment had been fighting already for a couple of days and was getting worn—Lieut.-Col. Savill describes his men as "dead beat"—and it had to move up to assembly positions in Burg Support, where it occupied a trench at right angles to the line of its advance. A change of front during an advance had been proved on the Somme in 1916 to be an operation extremely difficult of accomplishment, and so it proved here. True, the attack did not start till 12.30 p.m., but even the hours of morning daylight gave little chance to the Queen's Westminsters to get their bearings. Our map shows the villages of Bullecourt and Hendecourt, but it must be borne in mind that the whole terrain was actually a featureless waste. The ground everywhere was "crumped" to pieces and covered with high grass and rank weeds, while the existence of a village was not suspected till one found oneself stumbling among the heaps of bricks which had formerly been its cottages. As a consequence of all this, two companies of the Queen's Westminsters, followed by a part of the 1/2nd Londons, went hopelessly astray and became entangled in the 57th Division troops near Hendecourt. To add to the confusion the company commander sent back word to 169th Brigade that he was in Bullecourt.
Meanwhile, Lieut.-Col. Savill of the Queen's Westminsters advanced along the Hindenburg line, and having fallen in with the Headquarters of the 1/2nd Londons and the London Rifle Brigade, soon came in touch with strong enemy forces, believing that his companies were ahead of him, and that mopping-up had not been well done. The weak force at his disposal was unable to shift the stubborn Germans opposed to him, and the attack was held up.
The 1/4th Londons moved off from assembly as ordered in rear of the 169th Brigade.
On the right D Company was held up badly at Nelly Avenue where it closed on to a party of the London Rifle Brigade. Several efforts to shift the enemy proved abortive, and it was not until about 7.30 p.m. that, with the help of two Stokes Mortars brought up by the Kensingtons, further progress could be made. By this hour, however, the opposition was overcome, and, with 40 prisoners and 4 light machine-guns to its credit, the company pursued the advance after dark to Queen's Lane.
B Company in Burg Support overtook the Headquarters of the three 169th Brigade battalions, held up as already described, about 200 yards short of the Hump, and a platoon was at once placed at Lieut.-Col. Savill's disposal to help clear the trench. We must remark parenthetically that B Company's fight began almost precisely in the sector of trench which had been first captured by A Company of the 2/4th Battalion on the 15th June 1917: how often, we wonder, has such a coincidence occurred?
The Germans in Burg Support were of a remarkably obstinate variety and progress by bombing was slow. The trench was very full of men, and the congestion was later increased by the arrival from nowhere in particular of a company of the Royal Munster Fusiliers (57th Division), who had quite lost their direction. By 6.30 p.m. the enemy's resistance was overcome by hard fighting, and B Company advanced down Burg Support to the Knuckle, where it established itself in touch with D Company on its right.