Meanwhile, with the success of the earlier part of the day, orders had come for the 162nd Brigade to advance to positions south and south-east of Villers Guislain, and at 2.0 P.M. "A" and C/162 had begun to move forward in accordance with these orders. Hardly had they started, however, than they came under intense fire which continued all along their line of advance, while later, in the intermediate positions which they were compelled to take up owing to the retirement of the infantry, they were heavily bombarded by 4·2 in. and 77 mm. B/156, another battery to move up according to prearranged orders—which had been drafted on the assumption that the attack would be a success—went right on to its forward position and stayed there within four hundred yards of the enemy, but it suffered heavily for its temerity.
The night of the 29th/30th passed quietly, and at 10.30 A.M. on the 30th the enemy was reported to be evacuating the ground west of the Canal de l'Escaut. Sunday's attack, although not a success on the batteries' immediate front, had elsewhere pierced the mighty Siegfried line, the effect of which was so great that the enemy was forced to carry out a retirement along the whole front. As soon as information of this withdrawal was received a general advance began, the batteries reconnoitring the ground which covered the crossings of the canal and the zone east thereof, while the infantry reached the line which had been the objective of the 5.50 A.M. attack on the previous day and threw out patrols to the western bank of the canal. Between 11.0 A.M. and 2.0 P.M. the 156th Brigade advanced to positions 2,000 yards east of Peizière, while A/162 came into action just west of Villers Guislain.
During the night 31st/1st the 162nd Brigade brought forward its guns, and by dawn on October 1st was in action 1,000 yards east of Villers Guislain, while the 156th Brigade also advanced its guns to the vicinity of Pigeon and Targelle ravines, 2,000 yards south of the village. From 3.30 A.M. to 7.0 A.M. such guns as had reached the forward position fired a barrage in support of an infantry advance on the right, and for the rest of the day were kept hard at work in engaging the many targets and movement which presented themselves on the far side of the canal. At the same time the batteries were subjected to intense area shoots by the enemy who was trying desperately to cover his retreat.
These area shoots were undoubtedly extremely unpleasant, but just at this time the batteries were given visible proof that counter-battery work was not entirely confined to the German side. During the advance to the Canal, four 5·9 in. enemy howitzers were found deserted, but still in the firing position, along a road. On this road just behind them a German field battery of four 77 mm. guns had apparently been marching—had, it should be noticed, for it would never march again. Whether it had been caught in a shell-storm directed upon the 5·9 in. howitzer battery, or whether an aeroplane had seen it and had switched some of our batteries round to catch it will never be known, but whatever had occurred the work was most effectual. The entire battery, personnel and guns, lay dead and smashed upon the ground; the battery commander at the head of the column, behind him his trumpeter and the whole of the battery staff, all lay dead beneath their horses. Every team of every gun was still in its harness, all three drivers of each team were still in their places, but all were dead, torn and riven by our shells. It was a most uncanny sight, this battery complete in every detail laid out along the road, and swift must have been the storm from our guns which transformed it and its surroundings into a shambles.
October 1st/5th was a period of probing the enemy line and of trying to force the pace of his retreat. Day and night his communications were shelled, his front system bombarded and every sign of movement engaged. Patrols pushed out to the edge of the canal on the 3rd found it still held by machine-gun parties, and as a result certain batteries sent forward sections so as better to engage Honnecourt and the numerous targets which presented themselves in the neighbourhood. On one occasion an aeroplane reported enemy transport to be on the move near Basket Wood, and a storm of shell was immediately directed upon the area involved. During the advance a couple of days later the batteries passed the locality where this transport had been, and the sight of the smashed and broken wagons and the dead drivers and horses who had been killed by the batteries' own fire was most uplifting to the detachments who had done the work. All this time gas concentrations were fired into La Terrière and Basket Wood, and everything was done to render as difficult as possible the retirement which the enemy was clearly carrying out.
At last, on the 5th, the line gave. Further to the right our troops had captured Montbrehain and Beaurevoir, and their loss necessitated a withdrawal by the enemy from the La Terrière Plateau. At dawn the 5th Scottish Rifles, accompanied by forward observing officers from each brigade, pushed patrols across the river and, meeting only slight resistance, advanced to Franque Wood and on through La Terrière, establishing themselves in Aubencheul by 3.0 P.M. As soon as it was known that the enemy had retired to the east of the canal, the 156th and 162nd Brigades began to make rapid preparations for the crossing, the repairing of bridges at Les Tranchées and elsewhere being taken in hand without delay. By 4.0 P.M. the 156th Brigade had completed a rough bridge in the southern end of Honnecourt, and an hour later both brigades were ordered to move across the Canal in support of the infantry. A/156 and a section of C/156 immediately effected a crossing and dropped into action midway between Vendhuille and La Terrière. At dusk D/156 went into action 1,000 yards south of La Terrière, and the remainder of C/156 crossed the canal and took up a position of readiness one thousand yards to the east thereof.
Thus the batteries pushed their way over one of the great barriers which lay across the line of advance, and before night had fallen a proportion of guns was firmly established on the eastern side. Darkness prevented any further work from being done, but with the arrival of dawn on the 6th, B/156 and the remainder of the 156th Brigade crossed over and took up positions covering Aubencheul from south of La Pannerie Wood. The 162nd Brigade, in the meantime, had been seriously held up at the lock south of Honnecourt, as the bridge, although repaired once, had again been broken, but at 4.0 P.M. on the 5th after several hours' delay the crossing was successfully carried out by portions of the batteries; at dawn on the 6th the remainder came into action in the vicinity of Franque Wood and La Terrière after a perilous march along the east bank of the canal, between the latter and a marsh, with only two inches of clearance on either side of the wheels.
On October 7th the 162nd Brigade again advanced to Basket Wood, while wagon-lines were brought forward to the vicinity of the Canal, and at 1.0 A.M. on October 8th all batteries put down a barrage in support of an attack by the 115th Infantry Brigade of the 38th Division. This Division had relieved the 33rd at 10.0 P.M. on the 5th, and now advanced to the assault of the Beaurevoir Line and Villers Outreaux in conjunction with a general attack on the last of the Siegfried zone by Byng, Rawlinson and Debeney. After much opposition and very severe fighting the final objectives were gained at 10.0 A.M., and three-quarters of an hour later the 162nd Brigade again moved forward—the third advance in three days—to the west of Mortho Wood, while the 156th Brigade guns advanced to the southern edge of Aubencheul. From here another barrage was fired at 11.30 A.M., almost in fact before the guns had dropped their trails—"limber supply" being adopted by certain batteries until the ammunition wagons, arriving at the gallop, came up just in time to prevent a stoppage—and under cover of it the 114th Infantry Brigade assaulted Malincourt and the Malincourt-Serain road beyond.
At about noon it was clear that the enemy was in full retreat, and accordingly the barrage was stopped, the infantry pushing on with little opposition through Malincourt and reaching the final objective at three o'clock in the afternoon. At two o'clock one section of B/156, and shortly afterwards three howitzers of D/156, advanced until they were almost up with the attacking infantry, and by shooting in close support and co-operation with the latter did excellent work in the engaging of hostile movement, machine-guns and strong points. At the same time the whole of 156th Brigade advanced so as to keep touch with the infantry, reaching by 4.0 P.M. the area just south of Malincourt.
At dawn on October 9th the advance was resumed. Tuesday's battle had wiped out the whole of the Siegfried Line, the enemy was now well on the run and the 19th Infantry Brigade (33rd Division) pushed on through the 114th, the C.R.A. 33rd Division taking over control of the guns, which consisted of the 121st and 122nd Brigades in addition to the 156th and 162nd. Little resistance was met with until Clary was reached, but here the infantry were held up by snipers and machine-gun fire. Two guns of A/156 and three of B/156 together with some advanced sections of the 162nd Brigade, which had followed close on the heels of the infantry, came into action immediately on the western outskirts of the village and successfully engaged the enemy machine-guns over open sights. Shortly afterwards the infantry established themselves on the eastern outskirts of Clary, whereupon two of the advanced guns of B/156 were pushed through the village and again came into action, shooting over open sights with extremely good effect at a range of 800 yards. In the meantime the rest of the 156th and 162nd Brigades had been advancing rapidly and, after passing through Villers Outreaux and Malincourt, had dropped into action just west of Clary to help the infantry in the assault on the eastern outskirts. With the fall of Clary the advance quickened and the infantry went right through Bertry unchecked and on to La Fayte and Troisvilles, closely followed by the forward guns of the 156th and 162nd Brigades, which were shooting at very close ranges over open sights all the afternoon and were successfully dealing with every sign of enemy resistance. Keeping pace with the advance came on also the main body of guns of the two brigades, which searched out and broke up every sign of enemy movement and opposition. So rapid was the move forward that the batteries took up three successive positions during the day, night finding them in the vicinity of Bertry with forward guns on the western edge of Troisvilles.