At 6.10 A.M. the barrage opened, but unfortunately on the left a considerable proportion of the shells fired by the French artillery fell short amongst the infantry with serious results. All the officers in one company of the 6th Gordon Highlanders became casualties before the advance was fairly launched. The 6th Seaforth Highlanders also suffered a number of casualties, while on the front of the 154th Brigade the 7th Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders suffered sufficiently to become seriously disorganised. Partly on account of this error in the firing of the barrage, and partly on account of the great natural strength of Espilly, the attack progressed in ratio to the distance of the troops engaged from that village. On the right the 5th Seaforth Highlanders had a brisk fight for half an hour, captured six machine-guns which attempted to bar their way, and were well up with the barrage when it passed on to the Bois de l'Aulnay. The 6th Seaforth Highlanders were also close to the barrage at the pause, but their left company were suffering severely from machine-gun fire both from front and flank, and the reserve company had to be pushed forward to help them. Opposite Espilly the 6th Gordon Highlanders were working their way slowly towards the village under a heavy shelling, and being badly enfiladed by machine-gun fire. Farther to the left, the 4th Gordon Highlanders and the 7th Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders were heavily shelled, and were faced from the start by strong machine-gun posts which the barrage had failed to subdue, and so were unable to make ground. On the other hand, the two companies of the 8th Royal Scots, pioneers though they were, were operating magnificently as infantry. By 7 A.M. they were well up with the barrage, and had captured two machine-guns; they finally fought their way unsupported on either flank for 500 yards into the Bois de Courton. When the barrage moved forward after the pause, the enemy in the Bois de l'Aulnay put up a poor fight, and by 8.30 A.M. the 5th Seaforth Highlanders and a company of the 6th Seaforth Highlanders had reached the northern edge of the wood. The 5th Seaforth Highlanders also formed a defensive flank on the eastern edge of the wood, as the enemy were still holding the ground on the opposite bank of the Ardre. On the left a few men of the 6th Seaforth Highlanders reached the spur south-west of the Bois de l'Aulnay, but the bulk of them, with the 6th Gordon Highlanders, were checked in the sunken road running from the wood to Espilly. From here men of both battalions strove to cross the open and assault Espilly in face of a terrific fire. The open country was, however, so swept by rifles and machine-guns that every attempt broke down. Farther to the left, though the 7th Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and 4th Gordon Highlanders made similar efforts to get forward, the enemy pinned them to the ground by the intensity of his fire, and prevented them from making any headway.