Further north, British troops got into the Hindenburg Line opposite Riencourt and Hendecourt on the 11th, and on the 15th repulsed a German counter attack on a six-mile front from Hermies to Noreuil.
On the 14th the 59th Brigade relieved the 60th in the left sub-sector, and on the 20th the 60th relieved the 61st on the right. Meanwhile the outpost line had been established well inside Havrincourt Wood.
On the 21st the 40th Division, assisted by the fire of the 91st Field Artillery Brigade, advanced its line to within 1000 yards of Villers Plouich and Beaucamp, while on its left the 60th Brigade advanced its right flank so as to keep touch. This operation was completed in the early morning, and shortly afterwards the enemy was reported to be shelling the south end of Trescault on the front of the 60th Brigade. Operations were at once begun for the occupation of this place. It was a somewhat awkward position to attack, as the village, standing on the north-west slope of a ridge, was under full observation from the enemy’s position in Havrincourt, and machine guns guarded the low ground in front of it. It was important, therefore, to hold both the high ground south-east of the village and the spur which faced it on the north-west. The 12th K.R.R.C. were ordered to reconnoitre. 2nd Lieut. A. D. Thornton Smith, the intelligence officer of this battalion, crawled forward with three scouts in broad daylight into the village of Trescault and found the enemy holding the north and west outskirts of the village, and also working on a trench about Bilhem, a group of buildings 800 yards further east. North of Trescault he found enemy machine guns. By nightfall the 12th K.R.R.C. had established a line of posts on the ridge from a point 600 yards south-east of Trescault through the village to a bridge at its north-west corner. The right of this line was in touch with the 40th Division.
On the 22nd, 2nd Lieut. Thornton Smith continued to patrol. In the words of the official report, “his control of these operations was so decisive that by 9.30 A.M. ... the village was cleared of the enemy.” For his work on these two days he was awarded the D.S.O.
It then remained to occupy the high ground facing Trescault from the north-west.
This was carried out on the night of the 22nd. The 91st Field Artillery Brigade had done good work during the day in shelling the enemy’s positions, and at 8 P.M. the barrage began. Half an hour later the 12th R.B. and the 6th K.S.L.I. advanced and occupied the objective against slight resistance and with little loss. The line was then held, from right to left, by the 12th K.R.R.C., the 12th R.B., and the 6th K.S.L.I.
The outpost line of the 59th Brigade was again pushed forward on the 22nd, when it included the greater part of Havrincourt Wood.
The enemy remained in possession of Bilhem and was thus able to prevent the 40th Division from holding Beaucamp, which it had entered on the 24th. That night, therefore, at 11 P.M., the 60th Brigade attacked Bilhem with three companies of the 12th K.R.R.C., supported by the 91st Field Artillery Brigade, three 18-pr. batteries of the 92nd Brigade, and a heavy battery. Two guns of the 60th T.M.B. in the first five minutes after zero fired 120 rounds on the enemy’s position. As a preliminary measure a patrol of the Oxfords cleared a cemetery on the north-east of Trescault; the left company of the 12th K.R.R.C., “D” Company, then deployed just south of this cemetery. “A” Company formed up just south-east of Trescault in front of the road, with “C” Company in support on the road behind. “B” Company was in reserve in Havrincourt Wood. When, in the course of the advance, “A” Company went too far to the right, 2nd Lieut. J. M. M’Donald, commanding “C” Company, on his own initiative took his company forward and filled the gap. “D” Company entered the Bilhem grounds on the north-west, turning the flank of the Germans who were holding the south-west wall, just at the time when “A” and “C” Companies attacked in front. All three companies then moved on to the far side of the buildings, having taken their objective and 14 prisoners at a cost of 9 men wounded.
The next day the 40th Division entered and held Beaucamp, and the 20th Divisional Headquarters moved forward from Rocquigny to Little Wood, south of Ytres. On the 26th the 59th Brigade was relieved by the 61st in the left sub-sector of the line.
