Waterlogged shell holes made a regular formation impossible, so the men moved as the ground allowed. The DCLI halted at the green line while artillery worked over the next stretch for more than an hour. At 7:20 the barrage moved forward again and the leading companies passed through the troops already holding the position. They reached the final red-line objective after further fighting, with machine-gun fire causing most of their casualties. By 10:30 brigade headquarters had pigeon reports that the battalion was consolidating and in touch with its neighbors.
Notable Point · 1:32:37-1:36:18
The DCLI advanced by stages behind the creeping barrage
Shell holes disrupted formations, but successive objectives and timed artillery lifts organized the advance, with pigeons carrying confirmation to headquarters.