Two days before the operation, the Battalion suffered a great loss. Lieut.-Col. E. G. St. Aubyn became so seriously ill that he was evacuated sick on September 1st, and soon afterwards was sent to England. So ended his connection with the Battalion, for which he had done so much. He returned to the 147th Infantry Brigade in the autumn, but took command of the 7th Battalion Duke of Wellington’s Regt. Thus it fell to Major J. Walker to command the Battalion in its first big attack.
(b) September 3rd, 1916.
The attack made on September 3rd, 1916, is one of the most important events in the Battalion’s history. Never before had it been selected for an operation of that kind. It is therefore very unfortunate that the difficulties of writing a strictly accurate account are so great. Yet, of all the operations in which the Battalion took part during the war, none is so obscure in many of its details, and around none has so much controversy raged. At the time, the higher commands certainly did not understand clearly what had taken place. Nearly all the officers and senior N.C.O’s, who took part in the assault, were killed. Survivors’ narratives differ considerably in matters of detail. In short, it is impossible to write an account which is absolutely exact in such details as the precise times at which certain events took place. The following account has been written after a careful study of all the available official documents, supplemented by the personal narratives of many of the survivors. Among the official papers, none is of greater interest and importance than a German narrative, which was captured two or three weeks after the event. This is the report of the Officer Commanding the 1st Battalion 180th Infantry Regt.—the unit which was holding the line south of the Ancre when the Battalion attacked. In it are detailed the extent of the British success, the dispositions made by the Germans to counter-attack, and the operations which finally resulted in the recapture of the positions, which the enemy had temporarily lost.
The operation was part of a big attack, which was to be made about dawn, on both sides of the River Ancre. South of that river the 49th Division was attacking, with the 147th Infantry Brigade on the right and the 146th Infantry Brigade on the left. On the front of the 147th Infantry Brigade, the 4th Battalion on the right, and the 5th Battalion on the left, were detailed for the assault; the 6th and 7th Battalions were in support and reserve respectively. The Battalion was thus on the extreme flank of the divisional front, and, as no one was attacking further to the south, had its right “in the air.” The following is a brief summary of the Operation Orders:—
1. Companies were to assemble in the parallels before dawn, in the positions shown on the map.
2. At zero hour A, B and D Companies were to advance simultaneously. As soon as B Company had taken the First Objective, A and D Companies were to go through it to the assault of their respective objectives.
3. Company objectives were as follows:—
B Company. Enemy front line from point 84 to point 54.
A Company. Enemy support line from point 95 to point 66. One platoon was to push up the Munster Gasse, and make a block in that trench beyond the support line.
D Company. Enemy communication trench from point 84 to point 95. Blocks were to be made in the enemy front and support lines towards the Schwaben Redoubt.