At 10 A.M. on October 20 I called at B.H.Q., a house in Prayelle, to get the latest news. Then I joined Ptes. Fail and Greenwood at the O.P., which was now under the muzzles of the field guns. We left this post and went towards Briastre, and, crossing the road from Viesly, we finally selected a position near the Briastre Cemetery. Just across the valley the enemy's guns were pounding the positions we had won that morning. It was in preparation for a counter-attack, which, however, was crushed by the fire from our own artillery. We sent in several situation reports to D.H.Q. through the H.Q. of the 10th Manchester Regiment, which were now in a cutting not far from the cemetery.
On my way back to Beauvois I met a number of tanks travelling slowly forward towards Viesly; but I believe they were unable to get across the River Selle that night. For the next two days the observers held a post on the north side of Viesly; and on October 23 the 42nd Division attacked again, the N.Z. Division taking up the pursuit of the enemy about midday. The men of the 42nd Division have every reason to be proud of their battle at Solesmes; the Germans were very strongly entrenched and they were picked troops, and a night attack is, of course, one of the most difficult of all to carry out successfully.
The observers were instructed to remain at their quarters in Beauvois, and for the next eleven days training was resumed. I was told that great advantages might be obtained from panoramic sketches, if rapidly and accurately drawn by the observers. And so I directed most of the training here towards making these sketches. There was nothing in training that the men liked better than that.
During our rest at Beauvois the New Zealanders had pushed the Germans farther back, to the outskirts of Le Quesnoy, and towards the end of October we were warned that the 42nd Division would relieve them after a further attack.
XXXVII[ToC]
THE FINAL RUSH FORWARD
On November 3 I moved with the observers to the village of Viesly and got a billet in a cottage. The village had been badly mauled by the German guns during the recent fighting. The German does not behave nicely when his nerves are shaken, and we heard stories of ill-treatment of women in Solesmes.