The Mill House, Havrincourt Wood
With the capture of Bilhem the Division had finally driven the enemy on its front into the Hindenburg defences. It then became necessary to organise the line as a defensive position in order to safeguard the ground which had been gained. The front line, after a certain amount of readjustment, ran from the south-east of Bilhem in a general north-westerly direction as far as the right flank of the 11th Division on the canal, and included the whole of Havrincourt Wood except a part of the north-eastern area just south of the village of Havrincourt. The guns were placed just west of the wood.
The three weeks spent here were quiet and very pleasant. After all the discomfort and hardships of fighting through a wet and very cold winter, the warm spring weather of May came as an intense relief.
It was a time, however, of hard work; completely new lines of trenches had to be dug. In the right sub-sector, where the line resulting from the capture of Trescault and Bilhem had to be re-sited, the battalions of the 60th Brigade, with the help of the 83rd Field Company R.E., dug and wired in twelve days a good trench 5 feet deep and 6 feet wide throughout the whole brigade front—a distance of about 3000 yards. Similar work was done by the 61st Brigade on the left, and behind the front line support and communication trenches were made.
During this month a considerable addition to the direct responsibility of the Divisional Signal Company occurred. The signal personnel of the field artillery brigades was transferred to the R.E. and formed into sub-sections of the Divisional Signal Company, from which additional N.C.O.’s and men were posted to complete the establishment.
A few weeks later the Wireless section, previously attached, as occasion demanded, from the Corps Signal Company, was also included in the establishment of the Divisional Signal Company.
Between the 12th and 14th of May the XVth Corps front was reorganised, the 8th Division being withdrawn from the line, which was then held by the 40th on the right and the 20th on the left. The 60th Brigade, which had been relieved by the 59th on the 4th of May, came up and extended the 20th Division line to the right, taking in Beaucamp and Villers Pluich.
The only break in the fine weather happened at this time. There was a very bad thunderstorm for about half an hour on the 14th. Dug-outs were flooded—those of the 12th K.R.R.C. to a depth of 6 feet—trenches began to fall in, and sunken roads became torrents. Water poured into a deep dug-out which formed the headquarters of the 60th Brigade and soaked the documents. By means of pumps and drains the dug-outs were cleared and kits and papers rescued, and as the weather became dry and warm again little damage was done.
On the 19th units began moving out of the line as the Division was leaving the Fourth Army to go further north, and on the 23rd General Matheson handed over the sector to the G.O.C. 42nd Division.
On the 20th the Corps Commander, Lieut.-General Sir John Du Cane, addressed the 12th King’s and the 7th D.C.L.I. as representatives of the Division. He said that the 20th Division had driven back the enemy from the trenches in front of Morval and Lesbœufs to the Hindenburg Line, a greater distance than that achieved by any other division on that front. The 20th had seen much hard fighting and had never failed to gain its objectives. It had distinguished itself not only in fighting but also in the fine amount of hard work it had done during the advance and digging in before the Hindenburg Line.