Just before dark the Battalion received orders to dig in where it was, and the advanced position to which Lieutenant Ethelston and his platoons clung had to be reached by a communication trench. The darkness made all communication very difficult, and the piteous cries of the wounded and dying, who asked not to be trodden on, added to the troubles of the officers, who were trying to collect their platoons. When orders were subsequently received for the Battalion to retire and get into some reserve trenches, it was found that the casualties had been very heavy. It was disappointing to learn that the British line on the right had been 200 yards ahead of the Battalion, and that all the losses had been incurred in passing over ground captured by the Eighth Division. The Battalion assembled by degrees, and retired to the place appointed to it, which was not far from the junction of the three roads. During its retirement Second Lieutenant R. G. Somervell was mortally wounded, and was picked up by a stretcher-bearer of another battalion. Rations were brought up and issued, and the men afterwards got what sleep they could, but they were wet through, and spent a most uncomfortable night. Lieutenant Ethelston was now in command of the King's Company, and Second Lieutenant Westmacott of No. 3, while Major Duberly and Captain Lygon retained command of their companies. [Sidenote: Mar. 12.] Having grasped the gravity of the situation, the Germans were now hurrying up guns and men to the threatened portion of the line as fast as they could. At an early hour they opened a savage bombardment on the trenches, and almost continuously throughout the morning shells were falling round the men in rapid succession. Only two actually dropped amongst the Grenadiers, but these caused many casualties. In the afternoon the Battalion was ordered to support the Scots Guards, who were to undertake the attack with the Border Regiment. The orders were to advance with the right on the Moulin du Piètre, but although this looked on paper a perfectly clear landmark, it was not so easy to locate from the trenches. In the orders the abbreviation Mn. was used for Moulin, which was new to the majority of platoon commanders, but even those who knew its meaning were quite unable to discover the mill. They could not see much through their periscopes, and nothing at all resembling a mill was to be observed. Presumably, as the Grenadiers were to support the Scots Guards, they should have followed them, and made a considerable détour; but the Staff Officer who directed the initial stages of the advance appears to have told them to go straight for the Moulin du Piètre.