East of Avion the enemy occupied the high railway embankment which ran in the form of an oval to the north of Méricourt and back. This was known as the Bull Ring. For a long time the Canadians had tried to get a prisoner from this place, but had never succeeded. The Division carried out many raids here with the same object, but although prisoners were taken from advanced posts on this front, it was only rarely that the Bull Ring itself could be entered. It was indeed a very formidable position especially at the Avion end, where the south-west face of the embankment consisted of a high and solid wall of masonry. Here the only point which gave any hope of success was a gap near the north-east corner of Avion, where the railway bridge over the road had been broken, leaving a gap in the embankment. The other railway lines converging at this point also ran on embankments which were held by the enemy as advanced positions.
Between Avion and Lens a large area of ground had been flooded sufficiently deeply to prevent any advance by either side on that front. This flooded area was completely overlooked by the Green Crassier, a large slag heap, which formed part of the enemy’s defences.
North of the Souchez river the whole of the ground in front of the line was a mass of ruins, the remains of the continuous succession of mining villages which encircled Lens. Behind our line the mining town of Lièvin was still standing, but every house had been damaged by shells. South-east of Lens the horizon was bounded by the houses which stood on the crest of the Sallaumines Ridge.
By the 3rd of May the 60th Brigade had taken over the Avion sector on the right and the 61st the Lens sector on the left; the 59th Brigade was in reserve at Souchez, four miles south-west of Lens. Divisional Headquarters was at Villers au Bois until the 7th of May, when it was removed a mile further north to Château de la Haie. Both these places are about three and a half miles west of Souchez. The 24th Division was on the left of the 20th, and by the 7th of May the 52nd had relieved the 4th Canadian Division on the right.
The front was covered by the 20th Divisional Artillery, which rejoined at this time. The 91st Field Artillery Brigade came into action behind Hirondelle Ridge, covering the right sector; the 92nd Brigade moved to Lièvin on the 13th to cover the left. Excellent observation could be obtained from O.P.s on Hirondelle Ridge and Hill 65.
As soon as the artillery came into the line, battery commanders came up to the front trenches to see the country and discuss with infantry commanders the question of artillery support. All through the four months spent in this area the co-operation between the two arms was particularly close.
Among the many railway lines which ran between Lens, Lièvin, and the various mining villages, several were found which some little distance behind our front trenches ran towards the enemy. Both artillery brigades used these lines to run single guns forward on specially constructed trucks at night to fire on certain points at close range. After firing a number of rounds the gun was withdrawn. The Germans soon got to know pretty well from which bits of line our guns fired, and then shelled the lines to prevent the guns from getting back. These expeditions consequently became rather exciting, but as a matter of fact no guns were lost and very few casualties were suffered in this way. The 91st Brigade had one gun two miles away from all the others among the houses north-west of Lens, where it did most useful work as it was able to take in reverse the enemy’s dug-outs in the Bull Ring.
The 92nd Brigade had not been long in this sector before Major F. Butcher, commanding A/92 Battery, was killed by a direct hit on the O.P. on Hirondelle Ridge.
An excellent system of buried cable communications was in process of being laid when the Division took over the sector. This was completed by the 20th Division. Owing to the enormous difficulty of digging among the ruined houses in Lièvin full use was made of the gas mains, whereby several miles of practically indestructible cable were laid. By the time the Division left this area, the system of communication was about as perfect as it could be.
From the beginning of May to the first week in October, when the enemy at last retired on this front, the battalions in the line carried out a succession of raids with the principal object of obtaining identifications to show what movements the enemy was carrying out in order to reinforce other parts of his line. For the first month our activity was not so marked, but as the operations in the south developed these raids increased in scope and importance. Gas was successfully discharged on the Divisional front twice during May, and on many other days when all arrangements were complete the orders had to be cancelled at the last moment because the wind was unfavourable. Battle patrols from several of the battalions attempted to raid parts of the enemy’s line, but at that time none of them succeeded in taking a prisoner.