MOVING ON BULLECOURT

Suddenly at this hour of half-past twelve a quietude which had only been broken by the shocks of single long-range guns firing over the ridge to Bullecourt, was changed into a tumult of noise as all our batteries began a terrific drumfire. For several miles the wreckage of the battlefields was alive with little points of light flashing through the wet mist, running along the ridges like sparks setting the rank grass alight. It was an intense bombardment preceding a new attack by English, with Scots on their right, beyond Croisilles and Fontaine-les-croisilles towards Bullecourt and the Drocourt-quéant line. Officers directing these operations told me that Croisilles had been well in their hands since yesterday, and that, with the help of the Scots to the north of them, they hoped to get a good deal farther to-day now that Croisilles was no longer a furnace of machine-gun fire. One of the officers at that moment was called to the telephone in touch with his forward observers, and after listening to the message, he turned and said: “It seems to have started all right. Our observers have seen the Germans running out of Bullecourt. We ought to get the place in a couple of hours.” These troops have done most gallantly since they came into this battle on Aug. 23. They had eight hours’ march over rough ground, and went straight into the attack against Boyelles and Boiry-becquerelle, which they captured easily with 700 prisoners. Another battalion commander went out in the same way afterwards to ascertain the enemy’s position, which is never very certain, and escaped narrowly after being machine-gunned at short range from one bit of trench to another. These lads were very tired after three nights without sleep, and with little water, and they had hard fighting on the way to Croisilles, and a worse time afterwards outside the village, where they found themselves under an incessant sweep of machine-gun bullets from the village, which was crammed with German machine-gunners. They tried to rush the place several times, but were checked by that infernal fire. Other bodies of them got up towards the Hindenburg Line, helped by Scots on their left, who came round to the north of Croisilles and through the Hindenburg Line yesterday, threatening to encircle the village. Germans in Croisilles saw this menace, and their machine-gun teams filtered out of it under our gun-fire, which killed many of them before they could escape. Yesterday one of our officers mounted his horse and rode very calmly and quietly into that stronghold and found it deserted, so that it was then occupied by our men.