Part IV
The last phase: Catillon to Sains
Chapter VII
The advance to Sains du Nord
On November 1st, after a slight pause for the advance of railhead and for the bringing-up of the necessary heavy artillery, a general assault was once more ordered. The attack was to be on a greater scale than ever before, the battle-front stretching from well north of Valenciennes to west of Guise. The whole weight of the First, Third, and Fourth British Armies and of the French Army on our right was to be thrown against the new German line in one huge sledge-hammer blow.
On our own small section of the front, the IX Corps, facing the line of the Sambre-Oise Canal, was opposed by a formidable obstacle, but, such was the enthusiasm of the men, that no one felt the slightest doubt regarding the outcome of the attack.
On the 3rd November, the 1st Division on the right and the 32nd Division on the left of the Corps front attacked and breached the line of the Canal, the 46th Division Artillery assisting in the barrage fired to cover the advance. The 46th Division, who had during the preceding days moved forward in readiness to exploit any success, passed through the 1st Division and advanced, via the Catillon-Mezières Road, to take up the pursuit of the
