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On the 28th a warning order was received at 6 a.m. that the Battalion would attack that day. Operation orders followed later. The two leading companies were to assemble at Humber Redoubt and Mole Lane, and the other two companies in the rear. The first objective assigned to the Battalion was Hoop Lane and the second the village of Riencourt. Flanks were given and zero was fixed for 12-30 p.m.
It was fortunate that a warning order had been given as otherwise the companies would not have been in position in time. At 12-30 p.m. the barrage came down and the men commenced to move forward. The going at first was not easy, owing to the wire and numerous shell holes. Shortly after zero the contact aeroplane unfortunately received a direct hit by a shell and crashed to earth.
Half an hour later a further order postponed the second attack until 12-30 p.m. Thousands had failed to take the objectives in the early morning, and it was unlikely that hundreds would succeed in the afternoon. This attack was ultimately cancelled, and at 4-0 p.m. the Battalion was withdrawn. A further attack was delivered in vain at 4-30 p.m. by other regiments in the Division.
Now during that fortnight I went down a good many times, and laid the sawdust as I have already described, and thus got the Rats used to it. The first night that I went catching I took with me 33 traps. I had them all set by 8-30 p.m., and by 12-30 a.m.
"Charlie is all right," his brother wrote home, "and has escaped amidst a terrific shower of grape and shells of every description. . . . He is now fast asleep in his tent, having been in the trenches from two o'clock yesterday morning during the cannonade until seven last night, and again from 12-30 this morning until noon."
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