21 August 1918

Near Couin – 21.8.1918: 2am: Bn was in position.

4.45am: Zero hour. The Bn moved forward in rear of the 1^st Bedford R in a heavy mist, which owing to the smoke of the barrage got so thick that it was impossible to see more than a few yards. In spite of this, good direction was kept & the Bn successfully passed through Bucquoy on its correct line. The enemy put down practically no barrage and no casualties were incurred up to this point. A halt was made on the Blue Line in accordance with plan.

6.15am: The Bn move forward to the Brown objective taking several prisoners and M.G’s that had been left owing to the leading Bn’s losing direction & not covering this part of the front. A further halt was made on the Brown line, the position checked & reorganisation made. Four tanks which had up to this point got lost, reported to the Bn and were allotted tasks.

7.42am: The Bn moved forward to Achiet le Petit, several prisoners & M.G’s were captured here. At this point platoon of 6 different units reported to me & were allotted objectives. B Coy & 2 Platoons of D Coy were then taken forward by me through the village to the railway where touch was established with 1^st Cheshire R on the left. A & C Coys had moved off to much to the right & encountered some opposition from M.G’s. These were successfully dealt with & shortly after two 77mm Field Guns were captured.

9am: The 1^st Cheshire R on left & B Coy & 1 platoon of D Coy moved from the railway up to the ridge on to the red dotted objective reaching this at 9.30am with little opposition. About this time the mist which up to now had been very dense completely lifted & it was seen that the right flank of the Bn was some 1500 yards in front of any other troops. The left flank of the Cheshire R was similarly exposed & shortly afterwards was counter-attacked by the enemy & a withdrawal to the railway became necessary & was successfully accomplished about 10.30am. I then reported the situation to 15^th Inf Bde HQ.

11.15am: Even then touch was not established on either flank & a slight further withdrawal was made to trenches just N of the railway.

12noon: A Coy then came up & were put in on the right flank of the Bn and established touch with the 95^th Inf Bde on the right. The line was consolidated and held. I reported on the situation & line held to Bde HQ.

4.15pm: 15^th Infantry Brigade BM 106 received as to the disposition of the Bns and I visited the line and complied therewith.

During this operation the following captures were made by the Bn:

1. About 350 prisoners
2. two 77mm Field Guns
3. one 77mm & four 5.9 guns which had to be abandoned owing to the withdrawal
4. at least 20 M.G’s
5. two trench mortars
6. large quantities of rifles & other stores.

It is impossible to describe the difficulties of this attack owing to the heavy mist which caused units to lose directions entirely. Added to that the whole country was totally unknown to everyone. At the same time the mist undoubtedly saved us many casualties.

The troops showed the utmost dash & keenness & many gallant acts were performed during the day.

22 August 1918

Bucquoy – 22.8.1918: Except for continual harassing fire by MG’s and a little shelling by 5.9’s the day passed without incident.

7pm: The New Zealand division on the right again advanced towards their objectives of the 21^st inst. This brought down a very heavy barrage on the Battalion causing some casualties.

11pm: 15^th Infantry Brigade OO No 213 received to say BN was to be in position before dawn to attack at any time after that. Preliminary orders issued accordingly & I went forward & supervised the assembly. This was completed by 4am [23^rd].