| Regiment | 8th Royal Berkshire |
|---|---|
| Location | France, FRONT LINE TRENCH |
| Entry | 16/17.11.17. 5PM. At Zero hour 5pm 16.11.17 "B" Coy under CAPT D.J. FOOTMAN and "D" Coy under CAPT T.B. LAWRENCE advanced without any artillery co-operation and met with very little resistance. "B" Company reached its objectives by 5.20om. "D" Company had more difficult ground to cover and were caught by the enemy barrage at 6.40pm being at that time as near their objectives as the ground would allow. Objectives were not all reached owing to the very swampy nature of the ground which made it quite impossible to establish a line one the objective laid down. The line was consolidated as near the objectives as the ground would permit. Our barrage came down at 6.45pm in response to the S.O.S. Signal fired by the Camerons on our right. During the attack, very few of the enemy were seen and these could not be dealt with as the ground was impassable. Consolidation was completed without difficulty. Tapes were used with success to mark routes to our advanced positions. Communication was most difficult and runners were the only possible means. The Battalion runners did excellent work in spite of the heavy enemy barrage which came down along the line PADDEBEEK. Pigeons were available but were either killed or gassed. Evacuation of the wounded was successfully carried out during the early morning of 17th inst. Great difficulty had been met with our left where a Platoon of the 1st NORTHANTS had crossed the PADDEBEEK, to attempt to capture pill boxes in V.28 in conjunction with our attack/Our casualties were 6 killed and 28 wounded, the small number being largely due to the fact that the attacking companies were able to advance beyond the line of the enemy barrage before it came down. About a third of these casualties occurred on the morning of the 16th inst, during our artillery shoot and consequent retaliation of the enemy. During the night 16/17th (after our advance) useful patrols were carried out by LIEUT C.F.R. BLAND and 2nd LIEUT W.C.A. HANNEY. After the attack our line ran as shown in Appendix 2 (attached). Whilst in the line the 2nd WELCH Regt was on our left flank and on our right was the 1st CAMERON HIGHLANDERS. |
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