On the right of the 127th Brigade’s front the 7th Manchesters were wholly exposed to enfilade fire from the high ground to the south—for Beaucamp still defied the division on the right—and their casualties were grievous: 450 men of this battalion went over at 8.20 a.m.; only 150 were left at the end of the day, and of 16 officers only 4 remained. Two determined counter-attacks were made against the 7th Manchesters on the Brown Line, but “B” Company flung back a defensive flank and held the ground, the machine-gunners doing great execution. Further progress was impossible until touch had been regained with the 125th Brigade. By 11.30 a.m. the 1st Cheshires had mopped up Beaucamp, and the Lancashire Fusiliers were now able to make progress towards the Red Line, and cleared up Boar Copse with the assistance of one of the tanks. At 1.30 p.m. they had passed the second objective and were approaching the Brown Line, overcoming fierce resistance and inflicting heavy losses on the enemy. By 2.30 p.m. a company of the 6th Manchesters, consisting of 2 officers and 30 other ranks, had reached the Yellow Line, on the extreme left of the divisional boundary, joining hands with the 187th Brigade of the 3rd Division in Ribecourt, and about the same time an equally weak company of the 7th Manchesters was on this line, and the enemy was being turned out of his network of dug-outs. The German machine-gunners were specially selected and trained men of undoubted valour, and as a rule they would work their guns and fight to the death. But the infantry, though they would fight well under the protection of the machine-guns, were cowed by the bayonet when close quarters were reached, and would then surrender with curious docility, and often, indeed, with eagerness. The Manchesters could spare no men as escorts for prisoners; they simply waved them to the rear, and the Boches meekly obeyed, too glad to be out of the fighting to attempt to take advantage of the disproportion between captors and captives by acts of treachery. There were exceptions, of course, and on one such occasion a mud-begrimed private approached his officer with: “Beg pardon, sir, ’ave I your permission to shoot one of the prisoners who threw a bomb at us after putting ’is ’ands up?” “Certainly,” replied the officer. The man looked relieved. “That’s all right, sir. I _’ave_ shot the blighter.”