1. The Battalion was to assemble and dig in before dawn on the line of the Iwuy—Rieux Road, on a frontage of about 500 yards. The 7th Battalion Duke of Wellington’s Regt., with its right on the Naves—Villers-en-Cauchies Road, would attack on the Battalion’s right; the 146th Infantry Brigade on its left.
2. A Company was to be on the right and D Company on the left. B and C Companies were to be in support on the right and left respectively.
3. It was believed that the enemy was too shaken to put up a vigorous resistance. Hence it had been decided to attack without any artillery support.
4. At 9-0 a.m. the attack was to begin, the first objective being the railway line midway between Avesnes-le-Sec and Villers-en-Cauchies, and the second objective the high ground east of the La Selle River.
The attack was part of a very big operation on a wide front and the task of the 49th Division was a most important one. Opposite to the Battalion’s front, with its crest line about a mile from the assembly position, lay a long ridge. This was held by the enemy. The Canadians were to make an attack on the ridge that very night. If they succeeded, the Battalion would advance through them the next morning, and the first part of its task would be easy. But if they failed, the ridge must be captured by the Battalion, on its way to the first objective. The ridge must be taken at all costs. This was the definite order of the Divisional Commander. It was a point of extreme tactical importance, and its possession by the enemy was holding up the whole flank of the attack. Such were the orders issued by the Commanding Officer.
An advanced party was sent forward to reconnoitre routes to the assembly positions. Tea was served out and the Battalion waited only for rations to arrive. Time passed, there was no sign of the convoy, and the Commanding Officer became very anxious. It was imperative for the men to reach their assembly positions and dig in before dawn. The Battalion was on the point of moving off rationless when the limbers were announced. The delay had been no fault of the transport. Throughout the operations they always served the Battalion well. But the roads were crowded with vehicles of all kinds, and they had had to fetch the rations from a great distance. It was simply one of the difficulties which had to be faced in the new warfare of movement.
Shortly after midnight the Battalion moved off. It passed through Naves, which was thick with mustard gas, and was met about a thousand yards beyond by Battalion scouts, who had gone forward to reconnoitre the routes. Leaving the roads, companies crossed the Erclin River at points where the bed was dry, and moved independently to their positions of assembly. These were not reached without difficulty. The night was very dark and the ground strange. Troops of the 146th Infantry Brigade were using the same route, and there was some confusion. To make matters worse, the enemy put down a fairly heavy counter-preparation on the field which the companies were crossing, and about ten men were wounded. But, by 4-0 a.m., all were up and digging in. Everything was quiet when daylight came, and the hours dragged slowly on.
From the road on which the Battalion was assembled, the ground sloped gently upwards to the ridge, already mentioned. The land between was mostly under cultivation and afforded no cover to attacking troops. Near the top of the ridge was a stack of bean straw which formed a very useful landmark, as it was almost on the boundary between the two companies. The night attack of the Canadians had been unsuccessful and the enemy still held the all-important position. It was therefore decided that the first hour of the attack should be supported by a thick barrage. For half-an-hour this was to fall on the crest of the ridge; after that, it would move forward at the rate of 100 yards in three minutes for a further half hour. This information did not arrive at Battalion H.Q. until about 8-20 a.m., and there was barely time to inform the attacking troops before zero hour.
At 9-0 a.m., prompt to the second, the British artillery opened fire and the Battalion went “over the top.” The advance was magnificent. Never, either in action or at training, had it been done better. In artillery formation, with sections in file and keeping perfect intervals, the men went quietly and steadily forward. If there were a fault, it was that of over-eagerness. The leading troops advanced rather faster than had been expected, and they were on the top of the ridge before their barrage had lifted.
Almost immediately the enemy barrage came down, consisting mainly of high explosive. Fortunately, the bulk of it fell just behind the assembly position and did little harm. Then the enemy machine guns opened, and these caused more trouble than the artillery. Sections were forced to extend in order to minimise casualties, but the rate of advance was scarcely affected. Near the straw stack on the hill, Sergt. A. Loosemore, V.C., D.C.M., of A Company, went down, shot through both legs; and the Battalion thus lost a magnificent leader who was liked by every one and almost worshipped by the men of his platoon. By 9-45 a.m. all four companies had disappeared from view over the crest line. The enemy’s artillery fire had weakened considerably, many prisoners were coming in, in charge of lightly wounded men, and everything seemed to be going well. Battalion H.Q. moved up from the position it had occupied in the dried-up bed of the River Erclin, and temporarily established itself on the road where the Battalion had assembled. The Commanding Officer immediately went forward to the crest of the ridge to see for himself how the attack was progressing.