Immediately the British barrage lifted, B Company charged and captured its objective without much difficulty. This line had been terribly shattered by the bombardment of the previous two months and in places had almost disappeared. It was so bad that most of the men did not enter it at all, but remained in shell holes in the open, where they began to consolidate. Their position was very exposed and, as time went on, they lost heavily from machine gun fire. Others, among whom C.S.M. W. Medley was most conspicuous, worked along the trench, bombing the deep dugouts with which it abounded, and collecting prisoners. The latter were sent back across No Man’s Land, but only one is known to have arrived at Battalion H.Q. The rest probably perished under the fire of their own artillery and machine guns. One part of B Company worked a considerable distance along the enemy front line towards the Pope’s Nose, bombing as it went. All that trench was thoroughly cleared, but the company, and the men of the 5th Battalion who were with it, were not strong enough to hold the whole, and it had to be left unoccupied. Numbers of Germans, some without rifles, were seen making off across the open on the left, and were heavily fired upon. It seems probable that, for some time, the Pope’s Nose was evacuated by the enemy; but it was never occupied by the British. Meanwhile, A Company had advanced, hard on the heels of B Company. Passing straight over the captured line, the men moved across the open until about fifty yards from the enemy support trench. There they halted, sheltering in shell holes, and waiting for their barrage to lift. Already they had suffered very heavy casualties. Some, in their over-eagerness, had advanced too far, and had been hit by their own shells. Only one officer--Lieut. W. N. Everitt, M.C.--had survived; C.S.M. A. Stirzaker, D.C.M., had fallen between the first and second objectives; and scores of N.C.O’s and men had been killed or wounded. But they had been reinforced by some men of B Company, who had gone forward with them, and by Cpl. A. Denham’s Lewis gun team, which had lost D Company and had advanced on the right of A Company. The men came under a very heavy fire from the German support line. Numbers of the enemy were seen making off across the open, and Cpl. Denham did some execution with his Lewis gun; but the bulk of the German garrison held its ground and fought well. For some time the Company lay in the open, exchanging shots with the enemy in his line. The British barrage had now lifted, and there was thus nothing to interfere with the German marksmen and machine gunners. Casualties were piling up, but the second objective was not yet taken. Lieut. Everitt, with Sergt. Bancroft, had already reconnoitred right up to the line, and had thrown some bombs among the enemy there. He now determined to try to rush the position, after a short burst of Lewis gun fire. Assisted by Sergts. Haigh and