The assault was to be made on the 29th June. To prevent the date being conveyed to the enemy this was known and spoken of as “Z” day, and the days prior to the battle were designated by the corresponding letters of the alphabet. Thus the 25th June, on which date the preliminary bombardment commenced, was “V” day. During the last week of June the weather was bad, and zero was wisely postponed until the 1st July. Thick ribbons of mist floated over the landscape and rendered the work of the Flying Corps exceptionally difficult. Until the 27th June there were frequent and heavy showers of rain, and Grovetown became a sea of mud, but on the following day the sun shone from a cloudless sky, and a typical French summer day ushered in the greatest battle fought in history up to that time.
The bombardment that fell on the German lines was of an intensity far exceeding that at Loos, and to the distant observer their positions seemed to be shot into the air. The bursts of our shells resembled the smoke from an endless row of factory chimneys, stretching north and south, and through the fountains of smoke one could see sods of earth and fragments of timber leaping upwards. For six days the ground throbbed under the unceasing cannonade, and the nights, gleaming with the flashes of thousands of guns, were almost as bright as the days. In this bombardment the guns of the Ninth Division contributed their share, for they were in action with the artillery of the Eighteenth and Thirtieth Divisions. During all this period the enemy’s artillery was extraordinarily quiet, as if reserving itself for the final attack.
On the 30th June the dispositions of the XIII. Corps were as follows: North of the Péronne road lay the infantry of the Thirtieth and Eighteenth Divisions assembled ready for the attack next morning. The battle H.Q. of the Ninth Division were at Grovetown, in which were also concentrated two companies of the 9th Seaforths and the South African Brigade, which had attached to it the 64th Field Coy. R.E., and the 28th Machine-Gun Company. The 27th Brigade, supplemented by the 90th R.E. and “C” Company of the 9th Seaforths was in Billon Valley, Copse Valley, and Trigger Wood Valley. The 26th Brigade, with the 63rd R.E. and “A” Company of the 9th Seaforths, was in Grovetown and Celestins Wood. The Corps Cavalry Regiment, the 19th Motor Machine-Gun Battery, and a Corps Cyclist Battalion were also under the orders of the Division, the first being at Grovetown and the latter two at Vaux.
On the morning of the 1st July the frenzied intensity of the bombardment heralded the moment of attack, and at 7.30 A.M. the British troops left their trenches and advanced on the German lines. For the Ninth, lying in reserve, the day was one of feverish suspense. Messages received showed that matters were going well on the front of the XIII. Corps, but it was rumoured that a serious check had been experienced farther north. By nightfall the position was fairly definitely known. In front of Thiepval, Beaumont Hamel, and Serre, our advance had been completely checked, but farther south the attack had met with a success that exceeded expectations. The objectives of the Thirtieth and Eighteenth Divisions, Montauban and the spur on which it stood, had been captured without much difficulty and with slight loss.
On the evening of the 1st July the 27th Brigade placed two battalions, the 12th Royal Scots and the 6th K.O.S.B., at the disposal of the Eighteenth Division for working and digging. The enemy’s artillery, now active, heavily shelled the garrisons of the captured positions, and on the 2nd July the Ninth Division was instructed to relieve the 90th Brigade (Thirtieth Division), which was holding Montauban. This task was entrusted to the 27th Brigade, and the South African Brigade was ordered to occupy the positions held by the former as soon as they were vacated. The relief began at 10 P.M., but owing to the congestion of the trenches and the unfamiliarity of the guides with the captured positions, it was not completed until 3 A.M. on the 3rd July. The 11th Royal Scots held the east and the 9th Scottish Rifles the west of Montauban, with the 6th K.O.S.B. and the 12th Royal Scots in support and reserve; their task was to consolidate and strengthen the defences of the village. The 90th Brigade had reported that the Germans were occupying Montauban Alley from the point where it was cut by the road from the village to Bazentin-le-Grand. This was too near for safety, and at 5 A.M. bombing parties from the 11th Royal Scots and 9th Scottish Rifles worked their way along the trench as far as Triangle Post, which they garrisoned. During the day this position was consolidated, new trenches were sited and commenced, and dumps were formed. All day the village and trenches held by the brigade were incessantly shelled.
At 3 P.M. on the same afternoon the brigade was ordered by the Thirtieth Division to capture and consolidate Bernafay Wood, about 500 yards east and north-east of Montauban. Between the British positions and the German second line system at Longueval and Delville Wood lay the two densely-foliaged woods known as Bernafay and Trones. These had to be cleared before the attack could be resumed, and, but for the check imposed by the limited objective, would in all probability have fallen to our troops on the first day. Brig.-General Scrase-Dickins arranged for the operation to be carried out by the 6th K.O.S.B. on the right, and the 12th Royal Scots on the left. The attacking battalions formed up, each on a company front, in Chimney Trench and the falling ground to the south-west of it. “B” Company of the 12th Royal Scots was to clear Montauban Alley from Triangle Post to the north-west corner of the wood. After a ten-minutes’ bombardment the battalions attacked at 9 P.M., and the whole wood, as well as the trench between it and Triangle Post, was captured after a feeble resistance. Four field-guns and one machine-gun were taken by the 12th Royal Scots, and one machine-gun by the 6th K.O.S.B., while about 12 of the enemy were killed and 7 taken prisoners. The assailants had the greatest difficulty in maintaining direction owing to the darkness and the dense undergrowth of the wood, consequently, when its eastern margin was reached, there was some confusion of units, and the consolidation of positions previously selected was delayed. After the capture of Bernafay, the K.O.S.B. held the southern and eastern sides of the perimeter, and the 12th Royal Scots the remaining post.
The wood had been an easy place to take; it proved a costly one to hold. At 6 A.M. on the 4th July a violent hostile bombardment opened, and continued for six hours. The shelling was particularly severe in the portion of the wood lying south of the railway line, and the majority of the K.O.S.B. in this area had to be withdrawn farther within the wood. The work of consolidation was totally interrupted, and casualties were heavy, the K.O.S.B. losing over 150 killed and wounded. By noon, however, all our original positions were reoccupied, and the work of consolidation was carried on with vigour. “D” Company of the 12th Royal Scots, under Lieut. H. Crowden, constructed a keep in the centre of the wood, a highly creditable piece of work, because it was no light task to dig in a soil through which tentacles of undergrowth ran in all directions. Every day Bernafay Wood and Montauban were plastered with shells from the enemy’s artillery. The ploughed-up village became a heap of brick-dust and rubble, and the wood, which before its capture had been so thick that the rays of the sun could not penetrate it, became so thinned-out that one could see through it from end to end. During one of these bombardments the battalion H.Q. of the K.O.S.B. were hit; the Adjutant, Lieutenant Wright, was killed, and Lieut.-Colonel Connell had a very narrow escape. On the 5th July the garrison was reduced by the withdrawal of a company of the K.O.S.B. to Oxford Copse, and a company of the “Rifles” was also moved back from Montauban Alley to the same place. The lines between brigade and battalions were often broken by shell-fire, and the work of the linesmen in repairing and maintaining them deserved the highest praise.
On the night of the 4th/5th July the remainder of the Thirtieth Division was relieved by the Ninth. The South Africans took over from the 89th Brigade in the Glatz sector, and the Highland Brigade moved up to the positions vacated by the South Africans. The Ninth was now the right flank division of the British Army. The 1st and 4th Regiments of the South Africans held the line from the junction with the French to Briqueterie Trench on the east of Montauban, with the 3rd and 2nd Regiments in support and reserve respectively. It was still necessary for the British to clear the pear-shaped wood of Trones. The first attack was carried out on the 8th July by the Thirtieth Division, and from that date till the 14th the wood was the scene of a bitter conflict, in which it changed hands repeatedly. Trones was a particularly difficult place to take, as it was commanded from Longueval and from the Maltz Horn Ridge. Every possible assistance was rendered by the Ninth Division. On the night of the 6th/7th, the 27th Brigade sent out a patrol, which established a post in Longueval Alley only 300 yards from Trones Wood, while on the morning of the attack the artillery pounded the southern fringe of Longueval and the neighbouring trenches, and the 12th Royal Scots from Bernafay Wood covered the left flank of the Thirtieth Division with machine-gun fire. During this operation a plucky exploit was performed by Private J. Stevenson of the 12th Royal Scots. Having located a German sniper, he engaged him with his Lewis Gun; he advanced across the open, and having fired off all his ammunition sat down and cleaned his rifle until more could be obtained. He was wounded in both arms, but nevertheless when one of his comrades was hit, he went about 600 yards to bring up a stretcher for him. The Thirtieth Division took Trones Wood, but by the end of the day had lost it all to a hostile counter-attack, except the south-west corner and Maltz Horn Trench.
On the night of the 8th July the 27th Brigade was relieved, and moved down to its old position in Billon Valley. The Third Division on the left took over the portion of Montauban Alley lying to the west of the Montauban-Longueval road; the Highland Brigade occupied the trenches in front of Montauban, and the South Africans Bernafay Wood with their 4th Regiment. The 6th K.O.S.B., who had held the worst shelled portion of the wood, lost in five days 16 officers and 300 other ranks.
The attack on Trones was resumed at 3 A.M. next morning, but at the end of the day the position was exactly as it had been on the 8th. The 90th Brigade, which made the assault, was sadly battered, and a company of the 4th Regiment of the South Africans moved up at 9 P.M. to the south-west corner of the wood to its support. In addition a platoon from the same battalion reinforced the garrison of the Briqueterie, and the 3rd Regiment was ordered to be ready to support the 90th Brigade at ten minutes’ notice. The attack was continued on the 10th without any gain, the Germans recapturing what they had lost by a well-timed counter-attack. On the same date the advanced post held by the Ninth in Longueval Alley was supported by the establishment of several intermediate posts. The sanguinary assaults on Trones Wood had no better fortune on the 11th, an attempt of a South African detachment to aid the Thirtieth Division by bombing up Longueval Alley to the apex of the wood being checked by machine-gun fire. During the counter-barrage of the enemy Lieut.-Colonel Jones of the 4th Regiment South Africans was killed, and the command of the battalion was taken over by Major D. M. MacLeod.