Little remains to be said. After the fighting between Fresnoy and Lens the Division moved to the neighbourhood of Monchy Breton. The Divisional Artillery was sent on the 9th of October to the Chérisy-Fontaine area. All units were occupied in training until the end of the month.
During this period the Allied line was carried forward on the whole front. While the French and American armies advanced in the south, the British army by the end of October reached a line well east of Le Cateau, and just west of Valenciennes and Tournai. At this point in the operations the 20th Division was moved at short notice on the 30th of October to Cambrai, to join the XVIIth Corps of the Third Army (General Sir Julian Byng).
The Divisional Artillery came under the 19th Division of the XVIIth Corps on the 1st of November, when both brigades moved forward from Cambrai to the east-north-east. The road was so blocked with traffic that frequent halts were necessary, sometimes for as long as an hour, while the enemy shelled the neighbourhood with gas, but the batteries came into action in the course of the day behind the villages of the Maresches and Preseau, 16 or 17 miles from Cambrai. The 91st Field Artillery Brigade, under Lieut.-Colonel Allcard, lost 2 men killed and 5 wounded, and 28 horses; most of these casualties occurred when the teams were withdrawing to the wagon lines at Vendegies, as the enemy was making good shooting on the road. During the night Maresches and the valley behind it were heavily shelled.
The Divisional Artillery was required to support an attack by the 19th Division on the 4th, and spent the 3rd getting up the necessary ammunition, with the help of the Divisional Ammunitional Column. The enemy retired on this front during the 3rd, as a result of the capture of Valenciennes, and the infantry reached Jenlain, three miles north-east of Maresches and two and a half miles east of Preseau, by 4 P.M. that day. Further progress was made by the infantry during the night of the 3rd/4th, so that when the barrage opened at 6 A.M. on the 4th the guns had to fire at very long range, and B/92 Battery was unable to fire at all. Half an hour after zero the batteries began to move forward to positions west of Jenlain. At this time Major Gwyn, commanding D/91 Battery, and two men were wounded while carrying out a reconnaissance. The infantry of the 19th Division had gained the high ground east of Jenlain by 10 A.M. At 4.30 P.M. both artillery brigades supported another attack in which the 19th Division surprised and defeated the enemy, who again retired during the night. The infantry passed Bry on the 5th and occupied La Flamengrie, a mile and a half further east, and the 92nd Field Artillery Brigade moved to Wargnies le Grand. It poured all that day, and the supply of ammunition became a very difficult matter. These operations formed part of a decisive attack which was launched by the Fourth, Third, and First Armies on a front of thirty miles from the Sambre to Valenciennes, and which definitely broke the enemy’s resistance.
By the morning of the 6th both brigades had gone forward and come into action south-east of Roisin. This advance presented some difficulty, as the ground was too waterlogged to allow guns or wagons to take cross-country cuts. The roads were being heavily shelled, and all bridges and culverts over the numerous streams which crossed the route had been destroyed.
On approaching the allotted position the 92nd Brigade found the eastern exits of Roisin under a heavy barrage. The bridge south-east of the town had been blown up and the Rivière de Roisin, with its marshy banks sodden from the heavy rain, barred the way. A double avenue of trees running parallel with the stream, although it formed no obstacle to the howitzers, masked the fire of the 18-pdrs. and made it essential to get them across. The brigade and battery staffs, under a harassing fire, built a bridge with German ammunition baskets, materials from some gun-pits near by, straw mattresses and earth, completing their work in time to allow the leading battery to cross after only a few minutes’ delay.
D/92 Battery, coming into action west of the stream, was unfortunately spotted by a low-flying aeroplane, and soon afterwards came under accurate fire from the German guns. The first shot knocked out a howitzer, and the searching and sweeping of the area caused a good many casualties. In spite of these difficulties all batteries were in action at the time ordered.
From these positions south-east of Roisin both brigades during the 6th engaged enemy machine guns which were holding up the advance.
THE FINAL ADVANCE, Novr. 1918. Sketch D.