R.S.M. W. LEE, M.C.
C.S.M. W. MEDLEY, M.C., M.M.
Sergt. A. LOOSEMORE, V.C., D.C.M.
At 10-55 a.m. Battalion H.Q. moved off, followed by C Company, with D Company bringing up the rear—all in artillery formation. Near Calgary Grange they came across Capt. Ablitt, of the 1/5th Battalion West Yorkshire Regt., who stated that his Commanding Officer was wounded and he was now in command. Most of his H.Q. personnel were casualties, he had no proper Headquarters and knew very little of the situation. The Commanding Officer informed Capt. Ablitt that he was moving up to Peter Pan with two companies, and then continued on his way. There was no protective barrage to cover the advance of the Battalion, and, as it came down the slope past Calgary Grange, very heavy machine gun fire was encountered from the pill-boxes on the Belle Vue Spur. The enemy artillery was also active, and, though the companies extended, many casualties were suffered before the old British front line was reached. Here a halt was made for about fifteen minutes to give companies an opportunity to reorganise, and to allow time for the reconnaissance of the crossings over the Ravebeke. In normal times this stream would have been a very slight obstacle, but the devastating fire of the British artillery and the recent heavy rains had converted its course into a formidable morass. Sec.-Lieut. A. M. Luty went forward to reconnoitre for practicable crossings. Under a heavy artillery and machine gun fire he carried out this duty, marked the possible places with sticks, and then returned to his own lines.
Lieut. H. S. Wilkinson, the Battalion Intelligence Officer, was also sent forward, not only to reconnoitre the crossings of the stream, but to try to get into touch with men of the 146th Infantry Brigade. Running from one shell-hole to another, he soon lost touch with the two men who had started out with him, and went on alone. Near the Ravebeke, a bullet lodged in his steel helmet, fortunately without wounding him. As he could find no other means of crossing, he waded through the stream, the water coming above his waist. He then advanced straight towards Peter Pan, across awful mud, and with machine gun bullets whistling all round. Soon he met a party of the 1/6th Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment, but they could tell him nothing of the situation. So he determined to reconnoitre as far as Peter Pan itself before returning to report. Not a dozen yards from the ruined building he was severely wounded. One bullet shattered his jaw; another went right through his left shoulder and fractured the arm. That was the end of his reconnaissance. He had established the very important fact that the enemy did not hold Peter Pan, but he was unable to return to give the information. In great pain and half covered with water, he lay in a shell-hole until the advance of the Battalion swept past him, and he was found and carried back.
Meanwhile, the Battalion was again advancing. C Company led the way, with D Company in close support. Under a hail of machine gun bullets, in the face of accurate sniping, and with shells bursting all round, they steadily advanced by section rushes, in extended order. The rear company gave covering fire to the leading one, and machine guns also assisted in keeping down the hostile fire. But many men went down, killed or wounded, in the mud, before the stream was reached. Then followed the crossing of the Ravebeke. Some of C Company had carried saplings with them which they threw across, others crossed on the fallen trees which were already lying there, yet others literally forced their way through the mud and water. On the far side of the Ravebeke the fire was, if anything, heavier; but the men pressed on to Peter Pan where many of them gained some temporary protection among the ruined buildings. It was in this crossing of the Ravebeke, and the advance to Peter Pan, that the Battalion suffered its heaviest casualties that day. Among others, Capt. N. Geldard, O.C. D Company, went down with a bullet wound in the ankle—his second wound in less than three months. Lieut. W. L. Hirst assumed command of D Company. Had the Battalion carried out its advance under a proper barrage the casualties would not have been nearly so heavy. But the Ravebeke had been crossed, which was, at the moment, the really important thing.
Battalion H.Q. was established in a newly-made shell hole, just in rear of the ruins of Peter Pan. C Company was pushed forward at once to get in touch with the West Yorks, and to gain contact with the enemy. Following a line slightly to the right of the direction of Wolf Copse, they came upon a number of West Yorks, who had dug themselves in, from two to three hundred yards in front of Peter Pan. Reconnoitring to their flanks, they also gained touch with a platoon of the 1/6th Battalion West Yorkshire Regt. So they set to work to consolidate on that line. There were rumours of other troops of the 146th Infantry Brigade still further out in front, but, apart from a few advanced men in shell holes, none were seen, and it is unlikely that any existed. D Company was also sent forward to prolong C Company’s line to the left. Lieut. W. L. Hirst, with his C.S.M., first reconnoitred the ground, and, finding a company of the 6th Battalion Duke of Wellington’s Regt. already in position there, brought up his company to prolong the line on its left. With the exception of the platoons found by C Company, no formed body of the 146th Infantry Brigade was ever found by the Battalion, though various isolated groups and stragglers were taken charge of by different companies. Meanwhile, machine gun fire from the Belle Vue Spur and from Wolf Copse was still sweeping the Battalion front, and extremely accurate sniping from the latter direction made individual movement very hazardous. Companies were doing what they could to keep this down with Lewis gun and rifle fire, but casualties were frequent. Two signallers, attached to C Company, were shot through the head as they were moving along a shallow trench. The Adjutant, Capt. W. C. Fenton, M.C., while reconnoitring the positions, was also wounded in the head. As Lieut. H. S. Wilkinson had already been wounded, only the Commanding Officer and Lieut. W. T Scholes were left at Battalion H.Q. Such was the situation on the right about 3-0 p.m.