The 42nd Division was on the left of the 4th Corps front, with the 5th Division on its right and the 3rd Division (6th Corps) on its left. The “jumping-off” line was roughly about 600 to 1000 yards east of Havrincourt village on the north and of Trescault on the south. The attack was to be made in five bounds, the successive objectives being termed the _Black_, _Red_, _Brown_, _Yellow_, and _Blue Lines_, the summit of Highland Ridge being the Blue Line, which was more than two miles east of the starting line of the 127th Brigade on the left and rather less from the 125th’s line on the right. On reaching Highland Ridge patrols were to be sent into the Couillet Valley and on to Welsh Ridge as far as a _Green Line_ about two miles beyond the Blue Line. The bounds were to be made by the leap-frog method, companies passing over one another in turn as each objective was secured. “B” and “C” Companies of the M.G. Battalion would accompany the 127th and 125th Brigades respectively; “A” and “D” Companies would take part in the barrage. Zero hour for the Third Army was fixed at 5.20 a.m. on September 27th; but as the 3rd Division on the left and the 5th Division on the right would advance along higher ground than the 42nd, it was arranged that the 42nd should not move until these divisions had had time to make good the higher ground on its flanks. The Lancashire Fusiliers were therefore timed to leave at 7.52 a.m., and the Manchesters at 8.20 a.m. The attack was preceded by a short intense bombardment by six brigades of Field Artillery, one brigade of Heavy Artillery, and the trench mortars; and at its scheduled time each infantry brigade advanced in successive waves under a creeping barrage of shrapnel and machine-gun bullets. Two Mark IV tanks were allotted to the 125th Brigade and six to the 127th, but two of these broke down at the start, a third developed engine trouble, and by noon a fourth and fifth were put out of action after doing useful work.[21] The assistance of the others in dealing with machine-gun nests was very valuable, and they were handled with great skill.