Chapter II
The Staffords cross the St. Quentin Canal and breach the Hindenburg Line
Preparations being sufficiently far advanced by that date, the 29th September was chosen as “Z” day, or the day of the attack, and the night of the 28th/29th was spent by the General Staff and Headquarter Administrative Services in putting the final touches to the plans to which I have already referred, and to arrangements for the evacuation of the wounded, and for dealing with the inrush of enemy prisoners which might be expected if the attack was successful. During the same time the fighting troops were moving up to their assembly positions. The 137th Infantry Brigade, composed entirely of Staffordshire troops, under Brigadier-General J. V. Campbell, V.C., C.M.G., D.S.O., had been chosen to lead the Division in the assault on the Canal; and the Headquarters of this Brigade was moved on this night to the dug-outs in the support line of trenches which had already been selected for them. The troops themselves were disposed on the forming-up line which had been taped out under the direction of Engineer officers, the tapes being laid parallel to, and two hundred yards behind, the starting-line for the creeping barrage.
The troops of the supporting Brigade, the 138th Infantry Brigade of Leicesters and Lincolns, under Brigadier-General F. G. M. Rowley, C.M.G., D.S.O., and the 139th
