In the morning of the 16th the reserve brigade had come up and the advance was renewed as far as Grove Alley upon the left, the Canterbury battalion clearing and holding the new ground, with the Aucklanders and Otagos in immediate support. With this new advance the New Zealanders had come forward 3000 yards in two days--a notable performance--and were within short striking distance of the great German systems of Gird Trench and Gird Support. Two German counters that evening, one upon the Rifle Brigade and the other on the 1st Wellington battalion, had no success. On the right of the New Zealanders was the Forty-first {244} Division under one of the heroes of the original Seventh Division. His objective after surmounting the German trench lines was the fortified village of Flers. His artillery support was particularly strong, for his C.R.A. had under him the very efficient guns of the Twenty-first Division, as well as those of his own unit. The infantry advance was carried out with the 122nd Brigade on the left, the 124th on the right, and the 123rd in reserve. All the battalions save one were South of England, and most of them from the home counties, a district which has furnished some of the finest infantry of the War. As they advanced they were in close touch with the 2nd New Zealanders upon the left and with the 41st Brigade upon the right. The first objective, Tea Support Trench, was rapidly overrun by the Royal Riflemen, Hampshire, and Queen's Surrey battalions who formed the front line. The garrison surrendered. The continuation of Switch Trench stretched now in front of them, and both front brigades, with a ten minutes' interval in favour of the left one, made good the sections in front of them. The division was fortunate in its tanks, for seven out of ten got over the first line, and some survived for the whole day, spreading dismay in front of them and amused appreciation behind. The resistance was by no means desperate save by a few machine-gunners, who were finally scared or butted out of their emplacements by the iron monsters. Two tanks did good service, cutting the wire to the west of Flers Road, and the village was opened up to the stormers, who rushed into it shortly after eight o'clock. One tank went up the east side of the village and crushed in two houses containing machine-guns, while another {245} one passed down the main street; and yet another cleared up the west side. Nowhere upon this day of battle did these engines of warfare justify themselves so well as at Flers.