| Regiment | 1st Wiltshire |
|---|---|
| Location | Belgium, Wulverghem |
| Entry | On the night of 6/7th the Battn moved into assembly trenches in the WULVERGHEM Sector the assembly being complete by midnight. It was carried out with few casualties. Zero hour for the attack was 3.10a.m. and at that moment several mines were exploded and an intense barrage commenced. The Battn was the last of the Bde to move forward and debouched from its assembly trench at 3.40a.m. and moved forward in artillery formation. In spite of the fact that it was not yet light and in spite of the smoke and dust obliterating all landmarks with the exception of L'ENFER WOOD the men kept excellent direction. After the STEENBECQUE had been crossed the Div operating on the left bore away to the left slightly, and it was necessary to keep in touch with them. This however, was soon corrected and the Battn now that it had passed through the other Battns continued its advance in accordance with the Barrage timetable. At Zero plus 100 minutes the Battn charged its first objective OCTOBER TRENCH. Some resistance was encountered in strong concrete dugouts, but was successfully dealt with and in each case the garrison were either killed or taken prisoner. The attack on 4 HUNS FARM and OCTOBER SUPPORT, the Battn's second objective was delayed for some time on account of the standing artillery barrage not lifting at the correct time and at this juncture several casualties occurred. Eventually this objective fell and prisoners and two machine guns were taken. A gap was however left in existence which threatened the left flank and a hostile machine gun was active in LUMMS FARM and was causing casualties. An immediate attack was made upon this strong point and the garrison of 40 were killed or captured. Although the Battn had now reached its final objective the advance was continued, this being necessitated by the fact that the Division's left flank was still exposed. A number of the enemy who had congregated in a farm now called WILTS FARM (o26d.85.90 in France, sheet 28 SW) were killed or captured and 2 more machine guns were taken. Previous to this a line of posts had been formed E of the road that runs through O 26 d. At the end of the morning the 75th Bde passed through the Battn and all men of this Battn E of OCTOBER SUPPORT were withdrawn so that on the evening of the 7th the disposition of the Battn was 2 Coys in OCTOBER TRENCH and 2 in OCTOBER SUPPORT. As the former was almost entirely destroyed by our own shell fire a fresh trench was dug about 30 yards in advance of it. |
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