The firing had been kept up practically all the afternoon, and some idea of the amount of ammunition expended may be gathered from the fact that No. 1 Company alone fired 24,000 rounds. This was the first time our men saw the hand grenades which were to play such a large part in trench warfare. Little puffs of smoke had been occasionally seen bursting on the bodies of the Germans, and these proved to be caused by hand grenades of a primitive type, which exploded when hit by our bullets.
By the evening the German attack had died down. The enemy had lost very heavily, and realised, apparently, that the line was too strongly held for any frontal attack to succeed:
The casualties amongst the officers of the 2nd Battalion were unfortunately heavy:
Captain E. J. L. Pike (Adjutant), wounded.
Lieut. C. W. Tufnell (Machine-gun Officer), killed.
Capt. C. Symes-Thompson (No. 1 Company), killed.
Major Lord Bernard Gordon-Lennox (No. 2 Company), killed.
Lieut. I. St. C. Rose (No. 2 Company), wounded.
Lieut. C. M. C. Dowling (No. 2 Company), wounded.
2nd Lieut. F. W. J. M. Miller (No. 2 Company), killed.