A long spell of very severe cold set in at this time. On the night of the 16th/17th four inches of snow fell; on the 22nd, and again on the 26th, there were 20 degrees of frost. The front line was approached by a line of duckboards which became so slippery that one unit coming up for its tour in the trenches considered itself extremely lucky in having only two or three casualties from men falling off. Snow fell again on the 31st, and the hard frost lasted without a break until the middle of February.
On the 22nd of January a raid was attempted against the 6th Oxford and Bucks L.I.—the left battalion of the left group. The raiding party was dressed in white so as not to show up against the snow, but was nevertheless driven back with loss and in disorder.
The only other action in which troops of the Division were involved at this time took place on the 27th. On that day the 29th Division, then on the left of the 20th, made a very successful attack on the enemy’s positions south of Le Transloy, taking all its objectives and about 400 prisoners. The 20th Divisional Artillery fired in support, and earned the congratulations of the 29th Division for its valuable assistance. The 60th M.G. Company with seven guns, reinforced by five guns from the 61st M.G. Company in reserve, put a barrage on the flank of the attack. In spite of the intense cold these twelve guns fired an average of 2500 rounds per gun, doing most useful work, for which the company was congratulated by the Corps, Division and Brigade, and by the 29th Division.
The next day the 17th Division look over this sector and the 20th moved back to rest, with headquarters at Heilly. The C.R.A. handed over to the C.R.A. 17th Division, under whose command the 20th Divisional Artillery remained in action. During February the batteries supported two successful attacks by the 17th Division on the 8th and by the 29th Division on the 28th. The result of these operations was to drive the Germans from the last bit of high ground which they had held on the Sailly—Sailly-Saillisel ridge.
By the 10th of February the Division was once more in the line, this time in the left sector of the XIVth Corps front. The right flank rested at the point which had marked the left of the line in January, a little north of Sailly-Saillisel; the left was 1400 yards south-west of Le Transloy. Again the front was held by two brigade groups, the right group consisting of the battalions of the 61st Brigade with the 6th Oxford and Bucks L.I. and the 6th K.S.L.I., the left group of the battalions of the 59th Brigade with the 12th K.R.R.C. and 12th R.B. The 83rd Field Company R.E. was in the right group and the 96th in the left; two machine-gun companies were in the line and one in reserve. Brigade headquarters, which relieved each other in a regular sequence, each spent sixteen days in the line and eight at Carnoy. The Divisional reserve, under the command of the Brigadier at Carnoy, consisted of two battalions from each group, the 11th D.L.I., the 84th Field Company R.E., and a machine-gun company. The C.R.A. commanded the 78th and 79th Field Artillery Brigades and the 28th Heavy Group, as the brigades of the 20th Divisional Artillery were still covering the centre sector of the Corps front.
A few days after the Division came into this line German aeroplanes dropped about 200 bombs around Maricourt and Carnoy. The chief damage they did was to set on fire the Plateau ammunition dump. Two very big explosions were heard by troops in the front line some hours afterwards, and the fire, which began at 5.30 A.M., continued till nightfall, some undetonated shells being thrown a distance of a mile and a half.
As part of the front line defences taken over by the left brigade group there was a very isolated post, known as “B” post, some 300 yards in front of the trenches and out of sight from anywhere in the line. This was a very difficult place to hold, and even to approach. Owing to the constant fire of the enemy’s machine guns throughout the night, the only way in which reliefs could be carried out was by sending up two or three men at a time. Even then the men had to crawl on their hands and knees for the last seventy or eighty yards, finally entering the post through a gap in the wire at the rear. All reliefs sustained many casualties.
A request was therefore sent back for authority to give it up. On the night of the 17th/18th the 10th R.B. relieved the 11th R.B. in this part of the line. In order to reduce the casualties Sgt. L. Tatt of the 11th R.B. volunteered to lay a tape to guide the relieving party. Although he had to crawl about for several hours over ground which was being swept by machine-gun fire and shelled by trench mortars, he successfully carried out his task, for which he was awarded the M.M. The next day at 4.30 P.M. the enemy put down an intense barrage on this post, firing high-explosive and gas shells, trench mortar bombs and rifle grenades. The bombardment caused a good many casualties and did considerable damage; eventually all Lewis guns, rifles and ammunition became clogged with mud. This put the garrison at a great disadvantage when, between 5 and 5.30 P.M., the enemy attacked in three parties, one from the front and one on each flank working round to the rear, using two flammenwerfer and a huge number of chemical and smoke grenades. All telephone communication was broken, the S.O.S. rockets failed to work, and the first four men sent back with messages were killed. When eventually information did get back to battalion headquarters the post had been lost. The garrison fought to the end and when for a short time the Lewis guns were got into action killed many of the enemy before being finally overpowered.
Permission to evacuate the post had in fact been granted, but the attack took place before the orders had time to get through.
Having taken “B” post the enemy tried to gain a footing in the front line. The attack was driven back by a company of the 10th R.B., under Capt. J. E. Trevor Jones, who was awarded the M.C.