Brigade on the left. One battalion of the 137th Infantry Brigade held out front to the west of the Bois de Riquerval, the other two battalions being held in Divisional Reserve to the west of Bohain and on the Bohain-Seboncourt Road.
The country over which the attack was to be made was very open, the only patch of woodland being situated just to the west of the village of Regnicourt. In clear weather, the task of the flank guides of the different units would have been very simple and little trouble would have been experienced in keeping direction, especially as the objective throughout its length was a well-marked main road. Dawn broke, however, to show the whole line shrouded in a dense fog, which was quite as thick as any of the mists which, during the last weeks of the war, made direction-keeping in early-morning attacks no mean problem. The waiting troops could see nothing of the country over which they were to attack.
Punctually to the minute the barrage opened, and the Sherwoods on the right and the Lincolns and Leicesters on the left moved forward to the attack. The 46th Division was advancing to the last general action in which it was to take part.
On the right of the attack, the 8th Battalion Sherwood Foresters moved forward on a three-company front, "D" Company following in close reserve. Immediately behind the attacking battalion, two companies of the 5th Sherwoods were held in support. The remainder of this battalion were dug in under a bank in shelter of the small wood near the joint Brigade Headquarters. About this spot also was grouped the remaining battalion of the Brigade, the 6th Sherwoods, in Brigade Reserve.
From the commencement of the advance, difficulty was experienced in keeping direction. A gently rising slope led up to the road which was the final objective of
