Unfortunately the attack of the division on the right was held up all morning by the very strong enemy defences around Beaucamp, a commanding position on the right flank of the 125th Brigade’s line of advance. The 7th and 8th L.F. were thus exposed to a terrible enfilading fire from the high ground about Beaucamp, and the leading companies were practically blotted out. Within half an hour of the start all the officers of one company of the 8th L.F., and all but one of each of two other companies, had been killed or wounded. With great gallantry the two battalions persisted in face of a murderous fire, but the failure to drive the enemy out of Beaucamp made it impossible for the Fusiliers to get beyond their first objective, the Black Line, until towards midday. The right of the 127th Brigade, which had made good progress, was thus left in the air. The leading wave of the 5th Manchesters had advanced over Trescault Ridge in fine style, and had gained the first objective within the scheduled time, with considerable, but not disproportionate, loss. The 6th and 7th Manchesters, dividing the front equally, passed through the 5th, and, though badly knocked about by machine-gun fire, both from the front and the unprotected right flank, they made good the Red and Brown Lines in the course of the forenoon, and the 7th Manchesters captured two 77 mm. guns. With bomb and bayonet they turned the Germans out of their huge and elaborate dug-outs in batches of twenty and thirty, about 400 being taken in the first three hours by the 127th Brigade and the Machine-Gun Company, which had gone forward with its usual dash, and had selected its positions and handled its weapons with much coolness and skill. More than 350 enemy dead were buried later in the area between the Black and Brown Lines. [Sidenote: _September 27_]