The 173rd Tunnelling Company planted two 2000 pound mines under the German front lines in the
northern sector. And so it began:
Before the battle Tunneling Companies dug tunnels and placed at the end large amounts of
explosive charges. These charges were meant to explode at Zero Hour to destroy German positions.
4.06am – sunrise and all very quiet on this front
5.00am British bombardment opens with field guns firing shrapnel at the German wire and
howitzers firing High Explosive shells onto the front line. German troops were seen peering above
their parapet, even while this shelling is going on.
5.30am British bombardment intensifies. The lead battalions of the two assaulting Brigades, of lst
Division, go over the top and take up positions only 80 yards from German front. Heavy machine
fire cuts the attackers down even on their own ladders and parapet steps, but men continue to press
forward as ordered. In the area of the Indian Corps, the lead battalions of the Dehra Dun Brigade
were so badly hit by enemy fire that no men got beyond their own parapet, and the front line and
communications trenches were soon filled with dead and wounded men.
5.40am British bombardment lifts off front lines and advances 600 yards; infantry assault begins.
Despite early losses and enemy fire, the three Brigades attempted to cross No Man’s Land. They
were met by intense crossfire from the German machine-guns, which could not be seen in their
ground-level and strongly protected emplacements. Whole lines of men were seen to be hit. Few
lanes had been cut in the wire and, even where men reached it, they were forced to bunch, forming
good targets for the enemy gunners. The leading batallions suffered very significant losses,
particularly among officers and junior leaders. Around 100 men got into the German front, but
were all killed or captured. The advance of the supporting battalions suffered similarly and by
6.00am the advance had been halted, with hundreds of men pinned down in No Man’s land, unable
to advance, or fall back.