The remnants of the company
pushed on, however, and reached their objective. "A" company followed
and they also suffered severely from the moment they advanced out of
Ferny Wood. Then it was noticed that most of the machine gun fire was
from the right flank, and our men were being subjected to a terrible
enfilading fire as they moved across the open. All the officers became
casualties, Lt. Hammond wounded, 2nd-Lt. McAlmont wounded, 2nd-Lt. T.
Woods wounded, and 2nd-Lt. Carley, killed. The few men of the company,
now led by C.S.M. Joyce, reached the Red Line and joined "C" company,
which, Lt. Edge, M.C., having been hit, was now under the command of
2nd-Lt. Jones. It was impossible, with the small number of men,
scattered over a wide front, to continue the advance for the moment. "D"
company, moving up according to programme, were treated similarly to the
previous two companies and men began to drop long before they
anticipated meeting any resistance. Thus, before they had gone very far
2nd-Lt. Thrutchley and 2nd-Lt. Wright were wounded, which left Lt.
Gresty, M.C. and 2nd-Lt. Milne to carry on the leadership, a task which
they performed in fine style. They quickly arrived at the Red Line, and
then took cover for a short period. Soon after this, "B" company came
along, but on nearing the Red Line, they found many men of "D" turned
about firing rifles and L.G. towards their right rear. It was now
obvious that the ground to the right of us had not been cleared at all,
and the enemy was left free to work his will upon us from the higher
ground.
Pages:
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187