Leaving the old British line it advanced across the open, over trenches which had been captured from the Germans the day before. Almost immediately after the advance began, Captain Douglas-Pennant was struck by a shell, and mortally wounded just as he had emerged from a trench, and was looking round to see whether his company was going in the right direction.
When the accounts written by the Divisional and Brigade Staffs are compared with those written by the Commanding Officer and individual officers, there can be no doubt that the information, which trickled back during the day's fighting, was often so incorrect, that it led not only General Capper, but also General Heyworth, to form entirely wrong conclusions as to what was happening in front, and the orders issued were in many instances unintelligible. Communication between the Battalion and the Brigade was maintained by orderlies, and on several occasions when the orderlies were killed the orders never reached the front line, or reached it so long after they had been despatched that the situation in front had completely changed. It hardly seems to have been realised at Divisional Headquarters, how much the artillery bombardments on both sides had obliterated all landmarks. Roads were mentioned of which no trace could be seen, and the four lines of trenches, the old and the new German lines, and the old and the new British lines, no doubt added considerably to the lack of clearness in the orders.
The whole position was most complicated, as the Germans had been only partially driven back on the 10th, and consequently their line in places faced in different directions. Though Neuve Chapelle itself was in our hands, the enemy still occupied part of their old line farther north. In order to attack this position, it was necessary to come down the old British trench, and then advance due west for a quarter of a mile, after which the attacking force had to wheel round, and go in a northerly direction.
Whether such intricate manoeuvres could ever have been successfully accomplished in the face of machine-gun fire is very doubtful, but there seems to have been no other way of attacking this part of the enemy's line, which jutted out at right angles, and made any advance by the Eighth Division an impossibility.
To accomplish its difficult task, the 1st Battalion Grenadiers started with the Gordons on their left. It had hardly reached the road when it came in for a murderous enfilade fire from the German machine-guns on its left front, which very much puzzled the men, who imagined the enemy to be straight in front of them. Two platoons under Lieutenant Ethelston and Second Lieutenant A. Foster had pushed on, and were quite one hundred yards ahead of the rest of the line, but No. 2 Company on the left, being nearest to the German machine-guns, lost very heavily. Lieutenant Lord Brabourne and Second Lieutenant C. F. Burnand were killed, in addition to a large number of N.C.O.'s and men. Soon afterwards Second Lieutenant A. Foster was mortally wounded, being hit in five places.
Meanwhile the Gordon Highlanders in the orchard were held up by the enemy, and could make no headway against the machine-guns in front of them. Lieut.-Colonel Fisher-Rowe, after having gone round the front line, saw clearly that unless steps were taken to silence this machine-gun fire on the left his Battalion would soon be annihilated. He accordingly sent back a message to Brigade Headquarters explaining his position. Apparently he was under the impression that the Battalion had reached the River des Layes, but as a matter of fact it was astride a small stream much farther back. General Heyworth ordered him to hold on where he was, in the hope that when the Gordons cleared the orchard the Grenadiers would be able to press home their attack.
The platoons had naturally telescoped up during this advance, as those in rear were always pushing on to get into the front trenches. Sergeant-Major Hughes, in command of the last platoon of the King's Company, was joined by Lieutenant Westmacott with his platoon, and soon afterwards by Lieutenant Somervell. Lieutenant Goschen also managed to get his platoon up to the front trench, where Lieutenant Duberly with his machine-gun arrived a little later. No. 4 Company under Captain Lygon, having passed through two lines of trenches occupied mostly by the Devonshire Regiment, had come up on the left of No. 2. Lieutenant Darby with No. 13 Platoon managed to cross a ditch full of water by means of a plank bridge, and get touch with the Gordon Highlanders; but when Lieutenant Mildmay attempted to follow with his platoon, he found the enemy had a machine-gun trained on it, and had to wade through the water farther to the left. Captain Sartorius was seriously wounded as he came along at the head of No. 3 Company; his two orderlies attempted to carry him back, but were both shot. Second Lieutenant Lord William Percy, who was close behind, was wounded in the thigh; Lieutenant A. Darby was shot through the heart as he was lighting a cigarette, and Second Lieutenant Mildmay, who was close to him, was badly wounded. The casualties among the other ranks were very heavy.
The 1st Battalion Grenadiers found itself from the start in a hopeless situation, and was enfiladed the moment it crossed the road.
But it continued to go forward in spite of the German machine-guns, and stubbornly held on to the position it had gained. Men who had been wounded early in the day had to be left lying where they fell, and many of them were subsequently killed by shrapnel. The King's Company was unfortunate enough to lose two of its best sergeants: Sergeant Russell was killed, as he followed Lieutenant Ethelston into the front trench, and Sergeant Annis fell somewhat later.
Just before dark the Battalion received orders to dig in where it was, and the advanced position to which Lieutenant Ethelston and his platoons clung had to be reached by a communication trench. The darkness made all communication very difficult, and the piteous cries of the wounded and dying, who asked not to be trodden on, added to the troubles of the officers, who were trying to collect their platoons. When orders were subsequently received for the Battalion to retire and get into some reserve trenches, it was found that the casualties had been very heavy. It was disappointing to learn that the British line on the right had been 200 yards ahead of the Battalion, and that all the losses had been incurred in passing over ground captured by the Eighth Division.