Explicit orders had been given by General Heyworth to the commanding officers on no account to advance over the crest of the hill; when a line on the reverse slope of the hill had been occupied it was to be consolidated. Owing to Lieut.-Colonel Hamilton having been gassed, the Grenadiers knew nothing of this order, and pushed on, while the Welsh Guards remained just under the crest of the hill. But the Grenadiers' position was quite untenable on account of the machine-guns which were enfilading them, and they withdrew to behind the crest.
Darkness now came down, and the exact position of the front line was not clear to those in rear. It was known that Hill 70 had been taken, and that somewhere on this hill were the Welsh Guards and a portion of the Grenadiers, with isolated parties in front of them. The 2nd Battalion Scots Guards, under Colonel Cator, was being sent up to relieve the front line, while the 1st Battalion Grenadiers remained in reserve in Loos.
During the last part of the advance Major Myles Ponsonby was hit while advancing with his men. Captain Thorne, the Adjutant, remained with him, although they were only twenty-five yards from the Germans, tied up his wounds, and, seeing how badly he was wounded, gave him morphia tablets. Early next morning Major Ponsonby died. No more glorious end could have been than his. He died, as Lord Cavan afterwards put it in a private letter, a great and lion-hearted Grenadier fighting to the last, within a few yards of the Germans.
Captain Thorne was himself wounded in the head, and after leaving Major Ponsonby he tried to get back when it was dark. On the way he came upon two drummers who had been acting as orderlies; one had been killed and the other wounded through the leg. Knowing that if he left the boy where he was, he would probably be killed, he determined to carry him back. He put him on his shoulders and started off, but must have made some noise, for the Germans at once put up a flare and fired at him with machine-guns. He fell forward at once with the drummer—both killed.
Captain Sir George Houstoun-Boswall, who was in command of the first line of Grenadiers during this attack, behaved with great gallantry, and was killed as they were nearing the German trenches. Captain Fletcher was badly wounded earlier in the attack, as was Lieutenant M. Ridley: thus all the officers who took part in the attack were either killed or wounded.
When the attack started Lieutenant Mervyn Williams was ordered by Major Ponsonby to follow with his machine-guns in case of a counter-attack, and to leave Lieutenant Ellison behind in Loos with the reserve guns. The machine-gun party therefore followed on till it got to the top of Hill 70, where a large number of Grenadiers who had been killed were found. Crawling on, the men suddenly realised that they had gone too far and that there were Germans firing behind them, so they wheeled round, and came across Captain W. Berkley with some Welsh Guards and a small number of Grenadiers under Lieutenant M. Ridley, who was badly wounded. The fire was very heavy and there seemed no prospect of being able to advance. Uncertain where the remainder of the force was, the party hesitated to fire for fear of killing its own men. It was pouring with rain, and as darkness came on Lieutenant Williams decided to dig in where he was on Hill 70.
It is necessary now to return and follow the movements of the other half of the Battalion. It was moving down the German communication trench quite unconscious that General Heyworth had diverted the two last companies to Loos. When Captain Morrison arrived at the spot appointed as a rendezvous, he waited. The attack had clearly begun, as the shelling was very violent, but no orders of any sort came to him, nor did he know what had become of Major Ponsonby, Captain Fletcher, and Captain Thorne, any one of whom might have been able to explain to him the situation. He accordingly sent off an orderly to the Brigade Headquarters asking for instructions. But it was far from easy to find the Brigadier in the middle of a battle, and as the first orderly did not return he sent a second, and repeated this process until four orderlies had gone. He had with him No. 1 Company (his own), one platoon of No. 2 Company under Lieutenant Penn, two platoons of No. 3 Company under Lieutenant Tompson, and the greater part of No. 4 Company under Second Lieutenant Layton and Second Lieutenant Macmillan.
As no orders came, he formed up the men and determined to take part in the fighting. He had been told that the 3rd Guards Brigade were to attack Hill 70, and that the 4th Battalion Grenadiers were to form part of the attacking force. It was clearly wrong, therefore, for these companies to be doing nothing. But he could see no sign of the rest of his battalion, and efforts to obtain instructions had proved fruitless. At this moment he observed the 2nd Brigade attacking Puits 14, and thereupon decided to take on himself the responsibility of joining in, feeling sure that if he was wanted by the 3rd Brigade to attack Hill 70 he would be in the best position to assist them; rather than remain inactive he thought it best to throw his forces in anywhere.
Captain Morrison's men now extended for attack, and came up on the right of the 1st Battalion Scots Guards just as they were attacking Puits 14. The ground in this part of the line was being fiercely contested, and they found themselves under very severe machine-gun fire. When the Scots Guards retired from Puits 14, this portion of the 4th Battalion Grenadiers found themselves completely isolated. They lay down where they were under heavy fire, and when it was realised that the 2nd Guards Brigade could make no farther advance, Captain Morrison gave his men orders to crawl back and dig themselves in on the Hulluch—Loos road. During this movement Second Lieutenant Macmillan was wounded in the head. Captain Morrison then went back and reported his position to General Heyworth, who told him to go up with the 2nd Battalion Scots Guards, under Colonel Cator, and dig in a line on Hill 70.
That evening the 2nd Battalion Scots Guards was sent up to relieve the 4th Battalion Grenadiers, but fifty men of No. 3 Company, who had originally formed part of the attacking force and were now without an officer, finding how thinly this line was held, insisted on staying where they were in order to strengthen the line.