While the 2ist Div. of the V. Corps pushed forward along the
right bank of the Ancre as far as Beaucourt and set to work to
prepare a passage over the flooded and marshy stream at St.
Pierre Divion, the 42nd, New Zealand, and 37th Divs. of the
IV. Corps carried their first objective, the high ground E. of
Bucquoy and Ablainzeville, and then gave place to the 5th and
63rd Divs., which carried the line up to the final objective W. of
the railway. Further to the N. the 2nd and Guards Divs. of the
VII. Corps, assisted by the 3rd Div., which was leap-frogged
over the 2nd for the last stage of the advance, also carried out
their allotted task, and though the fog, which had at first fa-
voured the attacking troops caused some little confusion and loss
of direction, succeeded not only in reaching but in crossing the
railway E. of Courcelles and Moyenneville. Over 2,000 prisoners
were captured along the front of attack, of which 1,400 fell to the
lot of the IV. Corps.
The German XVII. Army, in view of the loss of its forward positions, requested permission to retake them by a counter- offensive, which was delivered in force on the 22nd, and drove in parts of the new line both in the IV. and VI. Corps sector. It failed however to gain any decided advantage, as the Germans themselves admit, and meanwhile the preparations for the gen- eral advance on the whole of the IV. and III. Army fronts on the 23rd were being rapidly completed. At the point of junction of the armies the 38th Div. of the V. Corps, in cooperation with the III. Corps, carried out a series of operations which had as their result the occupation of Albert, and the seizure of points of passage which rendered it possible to throw strong forces to the E. bank of the Ancre in preparation for the morrow.
The main phase of the III. Army's operations began in the morning of Aug. 23, the various formations attacking at different hours along the whole front of 16 m. from Albert to the Cojeul. The enemy resisted with determination, but considerable prog- ress was made all along the line. On the right the V. Corps, still acting in close conjunction with the III. Corps to the S. of i(^ pushed out its right, the 38th Div., E. and N.E. from Albert and completed its occupation of the hills overlooking the town. By the end of the day this division held a line from just W. of La Boisselle to Aveluy, while its left brigade had thrown parties across the marshes E. of Hamel, where they held on all night in face of repeated German attacks. On the front of the 2istDiv., on the left of the V. Corps, only small attacks took place, but the IV. Corps to the N. of the Ancre, commencing its advance at ii A.M., with the 42nd, New Zealand, 5th and 37th Divs., carried the railway, the enemy's main position, from N. of Miraumont to Achiet le Grand, and pushing forward further on the left, reached a line from Bihucourt to Loupart Wood, whence the front at the end of the day ran sharply westwards N. of Irles and N. and W. of Miraumont. On the VI. Corps the attack- ing divisions, from right to left were the 2nd, 3rd, Guards, 56th and 52nd. The 3rd Div. opened the advance at 4 A.M. with a successful attack on Gomiecourt, after which at n A.M. the znd Div. passed through on either side of the village to continue the advance, its objective being the line of the Arras-Bapaume road between Sapignies and Ervillers. The right of the attack made little progress, but on the left Ervillers was taken early in the afternoon. Farther N. the Guards, after seizing Hamelin- court, had also established themselves across the main road, and Boyelles and Boiry Becqucrelle also fell into the hands of the VI. Corps before the end of the day, which resulted in the cap- ture of 5,000 prisoners and a number of guns.
In view of the success gained during the day, it was decided
to renew the advance at i A.M. on the morning of the 24th, the
noon being then at the full. This decision was fully justified by
he excellent results achieved all along the line. On the V. Corps
ont, it was projected to carry the strong position on the Thiepval plateau by means of a converging attack from S. and W. by the two wings of the 38th Div. While the right brigade stormed the high ground of La Boisselle and Ovillers, the left brigade, wading across the Ancre at Hamel under cover of its detachments thrown over the previous day, pushed forward as far as Pozieres, thus turning the defences of Thiepval from the north. In the after-
noon and evening the V. Corps, of which the central and left Divs., the i7thand 2ist, had pushed forward through Grandcourt, by dint of heavy fighting, attained the general line W. of Con- talmaison-Martinpuich-Courcelette. The IV. Corps had also been highly successful; the 42nd Div. pushed its front by way of Miraumont, where the enemy resisted with unusual stubbornness, to Pys, while the 5th, New Zealand, and 37th Divs., farther N., advanced to the line Grevillers-Avesnes-W. of Behagnies- Mory. The VI. Corps on the left of the army occupied St. Leger and Henin-sur-Cojeul but were held up by a determined defence in front of Croisilles and in St. Martin-sur-Cojeul.
The attack was vigorously pushed on the 25th despite the fact that the troops were becoming weary and the enemy's line heavily reinforced, showed signs of stiffening. The main advance was in the centre; the V. Corps on the right advancing over the old battlefields of 1916 where the ground afforded good facilities for the defence could get on but slowly, and the enemy's prepared fortifications gave him every advantage in the VI. Corps area, where little progress could be achieved. In the centre however, N. of Bapaume, the IV. Corps cleared up the hostile resistance at Sapignies and Behagnies and pushed on in the evening to the line Favreuil-Mory, thus seriously menacing the line of retreat of the defenders of Bapaume.
In fact, at this moment the situation on the front of the XVII. German Army was regarded as " extremely critical." It was believed that the offensive against it was bound to continue and the difficulty of getting up reserves and supplies was enhanced by the lack of communications across the desolated area of the old Somme battlefields. The Army Group of von Boehm was accordingly instructed to retire the line of the XVII. Army to a position already reconnoitred and partly prepared running from Queant E. of Bapaume and Combles. The withdrawal took place at once in accordance with orders, and was completed by the morning of the 27th under cover of strong rearguards which, fiercely contested the advance of the British III. Army.
Conclusion of III. Army's Advance (Aug. 26-Sept. i). Dur- ing the 26th the V. Corps gained the fruit of its hard struggles of the previous days in a deep advance over the Somme battle- ground, which carried it forward to the western outskirts of what had once been the villages of Longueval, Flers, and Le Sars. The IV. Corps continued to swing round to the N.E. of Bapaume,: occupying Bcugnatre, but the garrison of the town still held out. The next few days were taken up with bitter and strenuous fighting along all the front of the army, which grew stiffer as the advancing British drew nearer to the new prepared positions of the enemy. A new British Corps, the XVII. (Ferguson), took over the three left divisions (s6th, 52nd and 57th) of the VI. Corps on the evening of Aug. 25, and undertook the hard task, of overcoming the German resistance around Croisilles and in; the Hindenburg line to the E. Croisilles was not finally secured', until the 28th when the enemy garrison, finding its retreat menaced^ from both flanks, abandoned it early in the morning and from that date for four successive days the XVII. Corps was engaged in to-and-fro fighting in the maze of trenches and dugouts around; Bullecourt and Hendecourt which were finally secured by the 52nd and 57th Divs., respectively, on the morning of Sept. i. The line was established E. of Riencourt by the evening. The part of the XVII. Corps in the brilliant operations of the I. Army i against the Drocourt-Queant line on Sept. 2 does not come within the scope of this narrative.
Further to the S. by the evening of Aug. 29 the Germans, though still holding their ground stubbornly before the VT. Corps, had left Bapaume to the New Zealand Div. of the IV. Corps, and retired before the V. Corps to the eastern edge of the devastated area on the general line Morval-Beaulencourt. Following up their advantage the IV. Corps pressed their ad- vance on Aug. 30 and 31 to beyond Riencourt, Bancourt and Fremicourt, thus rendering it possible for their neighbours on the right and left to resume their progress which had for the moment ceased. While the V. Corps on Sept. i drove the enemy from Beaulencourt, Morval and Sailly-Saillisel and on the 2nd from Le Transloy, Rocquigny and Barastre, the VI. Corps finally
