C Company was to remain in Battalion reserve.
4. A hurricane bombardment was to open at zero hour on the objectives; it was to remain on the enemy front line for three minutes, and on the enemy support line for eight minutes.
Perhaps the greatest difficulty in the operation was the keeping of direction. A glance at the map will show that A and B Companies had to advance approximately half right on leaving the parallels—an extremely difficult manœuvre to carry out in battle, in the half light of early dawn, and in a country where there were no landmarks. The task of D Company was even harder. Not only had the men to advance on an incline, but, on reaching point 84, they had to “right form,” in order to occupy the communication trench, with their front towards the Schwaben Redoubt. Of course these manœuvres had been carefully practised over the “tapes” at Raincheval, but the carrying of them out in the excitement of battle, under heavy fire, was a very different matter.
The parallels, in which the Battalion was to assemble, were already very well known to many of the men. They were rough and narrow, and so deep that ladders had to be provided for the men to leave them by. The first objective—the enemy front line—was about two hundred and fifty yards from the foremost parallel. No Man’s Land was to be crossed in quick time and three minutes were allowed for this, rather a short period when it is remembered that the ground was one mass of shell holes and debris, and that the advance was up a decidedly steep slope. The enemy front line, owing to the shape of the ground, was barely visible from the parallels. The Battalion’s objectives lay in a re-entrant between the Schwaben Redoubt and the Pope’s Nose, from which positions a deadly cross-fire could be brought to bear on the advance, unless it were well protected by the British artillery. The slope and condition of the ground, between the enemy first and second lines, was very similar to No Man’s Land. The shelling of the past two months had so battered the enemy defences that it was extremely difficult to recognise definite points, or even stretches of trench.
During the afternoon of September 2nd, the Battalion marched from Senlis to Martinsart Wood, where it halted until evening. A hot meal was served at 8-0 p.m., and, about an hour later, the platoons began to move off to their positions of assembly. No smoking was allowed, and the strictest orders about silence had been issued. So, with no noise save the squelch of boots in the mud and the occasional rattle of equipment, the men passed through Aveluy Wood, along a specially taped line, drew bombs and other battle equipment at the bottom of Black Horse Road, and crossed the Ancre. During the crossing they were somewhat harassed by enemy shelling, and D Company suffered some casualties. But, apart from this, the march was not seriously hampered, and all were in position by 3-25 a.m. on September 3rd. Then followed two weary hours of waiting for the dawn and that hurricane burst of artillery fire, which was to be the signal for the assault. High as was the nervous tension, and great the excitement in those crowded parallels, some of the men actually slept. How few realised that, within the next few hours, scores would be sleeping for ever!
About 5-0 a.m. dawn was breaking. The enemy had been very quiet during the night, but he now began to show traces of nervousness and occasional bursts of machine gun fire clipped the parapets. The Battalion[7] stood to, and bayonets were quietly fixed. At 5-10 a.m. one great gun spoke, and then, to quote the words of one who took part in the attack, “the whole sky seemed to light up suddenly.” The hour had come. Up rose the three companies like one man. There was no hesitation. Over the parapet they swarmed. The attack had begun.
The enemy was thoroughly on the alert. Flares went up all along the front, and, in spite of the British barrage, which was very good, a deadly cross fire of machine gun bullets opened from the directions of the Schwaben Redoubt and the Pope’s Nose. There is some doubt as to the exact time when many of the officers and senior N.C.O’s were hit; but it is practically certain that Capt. C. Hirst, Sec.-Lieut. A. E. Hirst and Sec.-Lieut. C. W. Tomlinson were all killed, and Sec.-Lieut. G. F. Robertshaw wounded, before the first objective was reached. Many men fell, but the lines went forward splendidly. Steadily they crossed No Man’s Land, halted, and got down a few yards from the enemy front line, waiting for the barrage to lift. But already there was apparent one point, which seriously affected the success of the operation. Companies were becoming mixed. Some of the men of A and D Companies were mingled together; and many men of the 5th Battalion were in the ranks of the 4th Battalion. Also, in the half light, the rear waves of the attack did not notice quickly enough that the first wave had halted, and so they crowded up on it. The difficulties of keeping distance and direction had been too great.
The enemy artillery barrage did not open properly until nearly ten minutes after zero hour, but then it was very heavy. The old British front line and the first parallel received most attention, and were soon almost obliterated. Heavies rained down on the tunnel entrances; shrapnel deluged the communication trenches. The barrage embraced the whole of Thiepval Wood, and many casualties were suffered by the two reserve battalions of the 147th Infantry Brigade. But the foremost parallel and No Man’s Land were not heavily shelled at first, and thus machine gun fire was the only serious danger to the men lying near the enemy front line.
Immediately the British barrage lifted, B Company charged and captured its objective without much difficulty. This line had been terribly shattered by the bombardment of the previous two months and in places had almost disappeared. It was so bad that most of the men did not enter it at all, but remained in shell holes in the open, where they began to consolidate. Their position was very exposed and, as time went on, they lost heavily from machine gun fire. Others, among whom C.S.M. W. Medley was most conspicuous, worked along the trench, bombing the deep dugouts with which it abounded, and collecting prisoners. The latter were sent back across No Man’s Land, but only one is known to have arrived at Battalion H.Q. The rest probably perished under the fire of their own artillery and machine guns. One part of B Company worked a considerable distance along the enemy front line towards the Pope’s Nose, bombing as it went. All that trench was thoroughly cleared, but the company, and the men of the 5th Battalion who were with it, were not strong enough to hold the whole, and it had to be left unoccupied. Numbers of Germans, some without rifles, were seen making off across the open on the left, and were heavily fired upon. It seems probable that, for some time, the Pope’s Nose was evacuated by the enemy; but it was never occupied by the British.
Meanwhile, A Company had advanced, hard on the heels of B Company. Passing straight over the captured line, the men moved across the open until about fifty yards from the enemy support trench. There they halted, sheltering in shell holes, and waiting for their barrage to lift. Already they had suffered very heavy casualties. Some, in their over-eagerness, had advanced too far, and had been hit by their own shells. Only one officer—Lieut. W. N. Everitt, M.C.—had survived; C.S.M. A. Stirzaker, D.C.M., had fallen between the first and second objectives; and scores of N.C.O’s and men had been killed or wounded. But they had been reinforced by some men of B Company, who had gone forward with them, and by Cpl. A. Denham’s Lewis gun team, which had lost D Company and had advanced on the right of A Company. The men came under a very heavy fire from the German support line. Numbers of the enemy were seen making off across the open, and Cpl. Denham did some execution with his Lewis gun; but the bulk of the German garrison held its ground and fought well. For some time the Company lay in the open, exchanging shots with the enemy in his line. The British barrage had now lifted, and there was thus nothing to interfere with the German marksmen and machine gunners. Casualties were piling up, but the second objective was not yet taken. Lieut. Everitt, with Sergt. Bancroft, had already reconnoitred right up to the line, and had thrown some bombs among the enemy there. He now determined to try to rush the position, after a short burst of Lewis gun fire. Assisted by Sergts. Haigh and Bancroft, he crawled round and informed the men of his intention. They were told to charge as soon as the Lewis gun ceased fire. The gun opened, but stopped almost at once with a broken return spring; quite coolly the N.C.O. on the gun—his name is now unknown—changed the part, and reported to Lieut. Everitt that he was ready to reopen fire. One magazine was fired, and then A Company charged. Everitt himself was first in the trench, and was followed closely by Haigh. The bay they entered was unoccupied, but the next was full of the enemy. These were bombed, and either fled or dived into their deep dug outs. Parties then moved to right and left along the trench, bombing dugouts and collecting prisoners. The latter were sent back across the open, but none appear to have arrived. Many Germans were killed in the second objective. Of the parties which moved along the support line, that to the right got well beyond point 95, towards the Schwaben Redoubt, without encountering any of the enemy; but it could find no trace of D Company, which should have had a post near that point. The other party cleared and occupied the whole line to beyond point 66, where Sergt. H. Haigh got in touch with a small party of the 5th Battalion. Consolidation of the line, which was very wide and deep, then began. Only about forty of the Battalion had reached the second objective. These were organised in a line of posts from point 86, which was held by Sergt. Bancroft and Cpl. Denham, to beyond point 66. The second objective had been taken a little before 6-0 a.m. Soon after, the Germans began to bombard it heavily with artillery and trench mortars, and the discomfort of A Company was added to by some of the British guns, which had not “lifted” sufficiently and were firing into its back.