The Battalion sector was astride the Sequehart-Mericourt Road which ran due East along the valley South of Mannequin Ridge.  Sequehart village and the valley were both full of mist and gas which hung about in patches, and made walking very unpleasant.  There were many German dead round the village and in the concrete emplacements of the Fonsomme line, and the fighting in this part must have been heavy.  Keeping to the main road, the C.O. found “B” Company at a small cross-roads about one mile East of Sequehart; “A” Company, according to the West Yorkshires, should also have been here, but as this was the Company which had not yet reported “relief complete,” he was not surprised when he could not find them.  At the next cross-roads, half a mile short of Mericourt, were “C” and “D” Companies on the right and left respectively of the road.  Small patrols had already been out towards the village and had not found any enemy, and both Companies were now engaged in finding the Units on their flanks.  On the left a post of the Lincolnshires was soon found, and on the right the French were only a few yards away.  The liaison here was perfect.  After an exchange of courtesies by the Company Commanders, the flank posts fraternized vigorously, and the Frenchmen, by producing some “Jimmy Blink,” cemented the Entente Cordiale.  They were in great spirits, and since dawn had been formed up with bayonets fixed, waiting to make an attack; “Zero” hour had not been told them, but that did not worry them in the least.  To improve the co-operation between us, the French sent a platoon under a Subaltern officer to work with us.

By 6-30 a.m. the mist had lifted enough for us to see Mericourt village plainly, and a strong patrol under 2nd Lieut.  Griffiths was sent out to reconnoitre it.  They met with no opposition.  A few minutes later, a mounted Officer of the Staffordshires, without stopping at our front line to ask about the situation, rode into the village.  We were all much too interested in watching to see what became of him, to think of warning him that the Boche might still be there.  Soon afterwards, as there was still no sign of the enemy, “C” Company moved into and occupied the East side of the village, and “B” and “D” Companies moved on to the West edge.  Messages were sent back to tell Brigade that we held Mericourt, and to bring the Headquarters up there—­at present they were about three miles back.  From “C” Company’s position on the high ground East of the village we looked across a large valley, at the North end of which could be seen Fresnoy le Grand; along the bottom ran the main Fresnoy-St. Quentin Railway, and on the other side a collection of small copses was marked on the map as Bois D’Etaves.  Nowhere was there the slightest sign of the enemy.  In view of the fact that we were particularly ordered to be in Support if an advance was made, the C.O. would not push on further without orders from the Brigadier.  Meanwhile, he went off to look for the missing “A” Company, leaving the three Companies, “B,” “C” and “D,” holding the village and watching the valley.