Meanwhile, A and B Companies had not moved with the rest of the Battalion. On receiving his orders to reinforce the 1/7th Battalion West Yorkshire Regt., Capt. A. E. Mander had sent out scouts to try to find out the location of the Battalion H.Q.; but, after some time, these had returned without any information. The companies were therefore kept in shell holes in the vicinity of Calgary Grange until something definite could be discovered. It was not until 12-20 p.m. that they got into touch with the Commanding Officer of the 1/7th Battalion West Yorkshire Regt., who was found moving his H.Q. back to Calgary Grange. He simply told them to stand fast for the present. They remained where they were until about 3-0 p.m., when they received orders to move up to Yetta Houses, and fill a gap in the line there. With A Company leading and B Company in support, they moved off in artillery formation, until they reached the swamps of the Ravebeke. Here heavy machine gun fire, and the same accurate sniping which had harassed the rest of the Battalion, forced them to extend. Capt. A. E. Mander was hit in the head by a sniper during the advance, and killed instantly. His death was a great loss to the Battalion, for he was not only a most conscientious officer, but a general favourite with all ranks; nothing was ever too much trouble for him if he thought it would benefit his men, and his only ambitions in life seemed to be to work hard and make others happy. On his fall, Lieut. A. Kirk assumed command of A Company.
A and B Companies reached their objective about 5-30 p.m. Like the rest of the Battalion, they found only stragglers of the 146th Infantry Brigade. A Company began to dig in to the right front of Yetta Houses, with B Company in support in an old trench in rear. Patrols sent out to the left failed to gain touch with any troops, save a few stragglers in shell holes, so Lieut. Kirk ordered the flank of his trench to be thrown back to protect his left. About dusk, patrols sent out by all companies succeeded in gaining touch with one another, and the line which was held for the night was as follows:—
Right:—C Company, facing N.E., and about 200 yards from Wolf Copse. It was in touch on the right with a platoon of the 1/6th Battalion West Yorkshire Regt., and had scattered men of the same battalion in shell holes in front of its position.
Right Centre:—A Company of the 6th Battalion Duke of Wellington’s Regt., under Capt. Buxton.
Left Centre:—D Company, N. of Peter Pan, and facing Wolf Farm.
Left:—A Company, just to the right front of Yetta Houses, with its left flank thrown back as no touch had been obtained there. B Company was behind Yetta Houses, in support to A Company.
Battalion H.Q. was behind Peter Pan, still occupying its shell hole, “and very uncomfortable at that,” according to the situation report sent in by the Commanding Officer. This line remained unchanged until the Battalion was relieved the following night.
Darkness brought a welcome relief from the harassing machine gun fire and the accurate sniping which had caused so many casualties during the day. Though heavy, casualties had not been sufficiently high to interfere seriously with the efficiency of the Battalion. C and D Companies combined had lost nearly 30 per cent. of their men, and A and B Companies about 20 per cent. These losses were, to a certain extent, made good by the temporary incorporation of numbers of stragglers. The men settled down for the night as best they could, tired out with their efforts of the day. Every officer and man was covered with mud from head to foot, and his clothes were thoroughly soaked with water. In these circumstances little comfort could be hoped for, especially as the Battalion failed to get in touch with the ration convoy. The night was very cold. Patrols were pushed out to maintain contact with the enemy, and these found the pill-boxes on Belle Vue Spur and the neighbourhood of Wolf Copse still held. One H.Q. scout unfortunately was captured by the enemy while out on patrol; he had become separated from the man he was working with, owing to the darkness and the very broken nature of the country. Suddenly he found himself right on the top of an enemy post; a bullet shattered one of his arms and paralysed his power of resistance, and, though he tried to run for it, he was easily taken.[12]
Throughout the day the enemy made no attempt to counter-attack, contenting himself by harassing the exposed British troops with his fire. About 7-0 p.m., a report that the Germans were massing for the attack caused some excitement, but it turned out to be incorrect. Towards midnight the Battalion was surprised by the opening of a heavy shrapnel barrage on its front. As everything was quiet at the time, no call for help had been sent back, and no operation was known to be in progress, the cause of this remained a mystery for some time. It was cleared up about 1-45 a.m. by the arrival of an order, from the 146th Infantry Brigade, to mop up a considerable area of ground on the front. The barrage had been intended to cover this operation, but so late did the order arrive, that it had long been over and nothing could be done.
The dawn of October 10th was ushered in by the customary German “hate,” but after that things became fairly quiet for a time. A change was made in the Battalion dispositions at dawn. B Company was moved back to the vicinity of 146th Infantry Brigade H.Q. where it became Brigade Reserve. A Company thereupon withdrew one platoon from the line to form a company reserve.