| Regiment | 1st Royal Berkshire |
|---|---|
| Location | France, TRENCHES IN K17 b & d |
| Entry | At 12-30 am BM 13 (marked 'M') was received giving order for the attack & Battalion Order (Marker 'O') was issued to Companies at 1-45 am. BM14 (marked 'N') received giving particulars of barrage & modification of operation orders, the contents of this message was conveyed verbally by the Commanding Officer to the Company Commanders. The Battalion left for the assembly positions at 2 am arriving at 3-15 am Everyone was very pleased to get there as owing to the dark & the mass of debris in FLESQUIERES it was no easy matter to find ones way. At 4.45 am the Battalion attacked "A" Company on Right Front "B" Coy left front "D" Coy Right Support & "C" Coy left support. at 5.30 am the first objective (GRAINCOURT TRENCH) was captured with very little opposition. Information took a long time to reach Battalion HQ but at 9-15 to the relief of all concerned messages arrived which reported that the Battalion was holding the W bank of the Canal de St QUENTIN Previous to the receipt of above messages Battalion HQ had moved forward to a trench in L15 d.2.8 At 10 am the C.O. left Batt HQ to visit Companies. Weather very wet. Battalion HQ moved to NOYELLES at 11 am. The Brigadier called at Batt HQ at 12.15 am [sic] to get the exact situation. He was very pleased & asked that Companies be told that he appreciated very much the good work done by them. Every thing was now fairly normal except that a Boshe aeroplane was dropping bombs & firing tracer bullets into NOYELLES. The weather remained very wet. At 5.15 pm Battalion HQ moved into a dugout in NOYELLES & the Battalion Line was reorganised and held in depth. A & B Coys in the front line & C & D in Support in dugouts in NOYELLES at this time the shelling was very heavy. At 7 pm the 17th Royal Fusiliers forced their way across the canal. At 8-45 pm BM28 (attached "P") received containing orders to attack & cross the canal at 5 am on the 29th on receipt of this a Battalion Order (Marked "R") was issued to Companies. At 11.15 pm BM30 (Marked "S") was received giving further details & modification of attack. During the right all sorts of rumours were afloat the most persistent on being that the 17th Royal Fusiliers had been driven back across the canal. |
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