Soon after midnight the Adjutant returned from the 6th Division.  He had found that the 1st Leicestershires were on their right flank, and that they were going to continue their advance at 5-15 a.m. on the 11th.  Major Dyer Bennet therefore decided to postpone our attack until that hour, so that we might all go forward together.  In any case it seemed likely that this would be a better plan, as it would be daylight soon after the advance started; and, on so wide a frontage, it would have been almost impossible to maintain direction in the woods by night, especially without a moon.  At 5 o’clock we were all formed up along the road, Battalion Headquarters close to “A” Company, and at 5-15 a.m. in absolute silence and without a barrage we started to climb the rise towards the edge of the wood.

The left half Battalion along the Regnicourt Road made most progress without meeting any opposition.  “D” Company leading, they advanced by platoons on both sides of the road, keeping touch with the 1st Battalion on their left, and had gone nearly a mile before they were checked by machine-gun fire ahead of them.  Half-way from their starting point to Regnicourt stood a little group of houses at the top of a small hill, and from here, as well as from the thick scrub and undergrowth which covered the country on both sides, the enemy’s machine gunners had a good target.  Thinking that this was probably some small post left behind by the Boche as he retired, and knowing that the cyclists had been through the previous night, Lieut.  Hawley decided to attack at once, and “D” Company, making use of all the cover they could find, worked their way up the hill and soon captured the house.  One German came out into the road with his machine gun and started to fire at them point blank, but the leading Platoon got their Lewis Gun into action, and, knocking out the Boche, captured the gun.  The two leading Platoons of “D” Company had deployed, and, with 2nd Lieut.  Dunlop on the left of the road and the others on the right, tried to continue their advance.  Seen from below, the group of houses had seemed to be on the top of the hill, but beyond them the road, after a slight dip, rose again to a ridge 300 yards further East, and here the enemy were in considerable force.  Several gallant attempts to advance were frustrated by very heavy machine gun fire, and having lost Serjts.  Bradshaw and Dimmocks killed, and several others wounded, the Company was compelled to remain lying flat just beyond the houses.  One little party had taken cover in the ditch along the roadside and were seen by the German machine gunner.  The ditch became a death trap.  Hodges and Longden, the runners, and Maw, the Signaller, were killed, and Hall, another runner, badly wounded; Serjt.  Foster and L/Cpl.  Osborne, both of whom had done particularly good work, were wounded, and the casualties were very heavy indeed.  In half-an-hour this Company lost 10 killed 14 wounded and one prisoner.  It was obvious that the Cyclists had never been further than these houses, which they must have mistaken for Regnicourt, and their report was consequently worthless.