The left flank of the Army was formed by Gough's Fifth Army, which had pushed forward in the manner already described, the Second Corps (Jacob) and the Canadians (Byng) being in the line upon September 15. On their immediate right, and joining them in the trenches which face Martinpuich, was Pulteney's Third Corps, which covered the whole line down to High Wood. From the north-west of High Wood to the trenches opposite Flers, Horne's long-suffering Fifteenth Corps still urged the attack which it had commenced upon July 1. The units, it is true, had changed, but it is difficult to exaggerate the long strain which had been borne by this commander and his staff. An appreciation of it was shown by his {237} elevation to the command of the First Army at the conclusion of the operations. From the right of Horne's Corps to the point of junction with the French the line was filled by the Fourteenth Corps, under Lord Cavan of Ypres fame. In the movement, then, which we are immediately considering, it is the Third, Fifteenth, and Fourteenth Corps which are concerned. We shall take them as usual from the left, and follow the fortunes of each until their immediate operations reached some definite term. It is a gigantic movement upon which we look, for from the Eleventh Division in the Thiepval sector to the left, along ten miles of crowded trenches to the Fifty-sixth Division near Combles upon the right, twelve divisions, or about 120,000 infantry, were straining on the leash as the minute hand crawled towards zero and the shell streams swept ever swifter overhead. The three divisions which formed the Third Corps were, counting from the left, the Fifteenth, the Fiftieth, and the Forty-seventh. Of these, the Scots Division was faced by the strong line of defence in front of Martinpuich and the village of that name. The north of England territorials were opposite to the various German trenches which linked Martinpuich to High Wood. The Londoners were faced by the ghastly charnel-house of High Wood itself, taken and retaken so often, but still mainly in German hands. At 6.20 A.M. the assault went forward along the line.