Page:Breaking the Hindenburg Line.djvu/66

54 villages of Lehaucourt and Magny-la-Fosse, which lay within the objectives of the leap-frogging Brigades, and the Infantry rushed in on the village of Bellenglise and mopped it up, paying particular attention to the cellars and the entrances to the famous Bellenglise tunnel. It was from this tunnel that the 137th Infantry Brigade drew the greater part of the prisoners captured by them, nearly a thousand officers and men being discovered in this retreat alone.

Having thus accomplished their task the battalion, which had suffered surprisingly few casualties, proceeded to organize the Red line, in which task they were much hampered by enemy machine-gun fire from the eastern end of Magny Valley, until this harassing fire was finally silenced by some of our own Lewis gun detachments. Runners were then despatched to the rear with the news that the first objective had been taken, and the men found what shelter they could and settled down to rest, prepared to repulse a counter-attack should any be made.

The centre battalion, the 1/5th South Staffords, who were detailed to attack on a somewhat wider front than the troops on their right, formed up with two companies in line, each on a frontage of 500 yards.

Owing to the severe casualties this battalion had suffered while repulsing the enemy counter-attacks on the 28th September, the orders for the attack were altered at the last moment, the third and fourth companies being combined into one supporting company. When the battalion advanced to the attack of the trenches west of the Canal, the right company, owing to the fog and smoke, lost direction and bore slightly too far to the right. This error of direction was detected in time by the battalion commander, however, and under his orders the gap