Owing to the late hour at which orders were received on the 15th the battalions of the 61st Brigade had not time to complete their assembly before dawn on the 16th. As a result they had to face heavy and very accurate machine-gun and minenwerfer fire, which caused many casualties before the advance began.
The 7th Somerset L.I. lost Major Lyon and all senior officers at this time. Second-Lieut T. G. Jenne commanded the battalion throughout the operation and was awarded the M.C.
Zero was at 9.25 A.M., when the assaulting troops advanced to within 70 yards of the barrage. As soon as the barrage lifted, they attacked the position. The D.C.L.I., under Captain Macmillan, the second in command, established themselves in the first objective, where they captured 100 prisoners and 2 minenwerfer. They found, however, that they were not in touch with the Somersets, though they met an isolated company of this battalion. Due largely to the splendid efforts of Lance-Cpl. R. V. E. Hill and Pte. C. Barrow, who both received the M.M. for their gallant action on this day, the Somersets gained the German line on a front of 150 yards, taking 50 prisoners and 2 machine guns. They held their position while they dug another trench just to the west of it; then having used all their own bombs and all that they had captured from the enemy, they had to fall back to the new trench.
The time laid down for the advance to the second objective was 10 A.M., but Captain Macmillan, 7th D.C.L.I., seeing that the attack on the left was not progressing, decided not to attempt any further advance. It appears that, owing to the late hour at which the orders were received and to the difficulty of effecting the necessary reliefs, the Guards were late in launching their attack, and then meeting with strong opposition were unable to make much progress.
The Somersets came under very heavy machine-gun fire, from which they suffered severely. As early as half-past ten they were reported to have only two junior officers left. In spite of running short of bombs and ammunition, they held on in the trench they had dug until they were relieved at night. The D.C.L.I., meanwhile, with a gap between them and the Somersets, were left with both flanks in the air. They too had lost heavily, and all battalion bombers had been wiped out by minenwerfer. The K.O.Y.L.I. came up and made their right flank secure, and when a counter attack developed on their left they borrowed two bombing sections from this battalion, and with their help drove the enemy back. At 10.45 A.M. the 12th King’s went up to reinforce the line under very heavy machine-gun fire from the front, right, and right rear. About 6 P.M. the 84th Field Company R.E. came up and constructed strong points on the flanks, and at dusk a platoon of the K.O.Y.L.I. with a Lewis gun and a bombing section dug in, with the assistance of a party of R.E. on the left of the D.C.L.I. During the operations Lieut.-Colonel B. B. Robinson, commanding the 7th K.O.Y.L.I., was wounded by a shell which hit the battalion headquarters, killing or wounding all officers there. At night all units of the brigade were relieved.
The casualties were heavy, but the brigade gained and held its objective. It was a particularly fine performance, and Brig.-General Banbury received high praise from the G.O.C. Guards Division for the success of the attack. With both flanks exposed the 61st Brigade had successfully stormed, under heavy artillery, rifle and machine-gun fire, a strong German position, and in spite of numerous counter attacks had succeeded in holding it until relieved.
Captain Macmillan, D.C.L.I., was awarded the D.S.O. for his gallant leadership on this occasion.
On the night of the 16th/17th the 20th Division, less the 61st Brigade, relieved the Guards in the left sector of the XIVth Corps front, with the headquarters at Bernafay Wood. The 60th Brigade, under Brig.-General Butler, took over the right of the line from the 61st, which moved back into Corps reserve at Carnoy, leaving the 84th Field Company at the disposal of the C.R.E.; the 59th, under Brig.-General Shute, took over the left of the line from the 3rd Guards Brigade. The Divisional reserve was formed by a brigade of the 5th Division at Waterlot Farm. On the right of the 20th was the 6th Division, and on the left the 21st Division of the XVth Corps. The front was covered by the Guards and two brigades of the 6th Divisional Artillery.
The relief of the Guards by the 59th Brigade was most arduous. The situation here was very obscure; the guides had great difficulty in finding their way, and the enemy was shelling the area with gas. The 11th R.B., for example, had to march for a considerable distance in gas masks, and took about five hours to get from Trônes Wood to the line.
The headquarters of these four battalions were in a ditch which the enemy shelled continuously on the 17th, and on which he obtained many direct hits.