On 13th March the 9th Division had received the plan of attack, and from 5th April onward its divisional guns—269 pieces in all—were busy with the preliminary bombardment. On Friday, 6th April, the South African Brigade—with the exception of the 1st Regiment, which was in line—was inspected by Lieutenant-General J. C. Smuts, but lately returned from his East African campaign. He was deeply impressed by the fine condition of the men. They had passed through one of the worst winters on record without losing any of their ardour of spirit or vigour of body. So far their experience in battle had been bitterly hard—the long-drawn-out torture of Delville Wood, and the misery of the hopeless struggle at the Butte de Warlencourt. Now for the first time they were about to engage in a great forward movement, long and patiently prepared, and amply supported by artillery. Every man among them was strung to that pitch of expectation and confidence which is the mood of all successful offensives. [Sidenote: _April 7._] A proof of their spirit was given the following day. It was necessary to identify more carefully the German troops against them, and the 1st Regiment was ordered to carry out a daylight raid. The attempt was originally timed for eleven in the morning, but it was subsequently postponed to three in the afternoon. At that hour, under cover of our barrage, a party of 5 officers and 50 other ranks, under Captain T. Roffe, crossed our parapets, and reached the German trenches without a casualty. A large dug-out was found, out of which three Germans of the 8th Bavarian Regiment were taken prisoner. Their object having been accomplished the party retired, and reached their own lines with the loss of one killed and three wounded. On their way back, however, a private with a broken thigh was seen by Lieutenant Scheepers to be lying in front of the German parapet. He and Captain Roffe went back to help him; but, coming under heavy fire, were compelled to take cover in a shell-hole in No Man’s Land, where they remained until, under the cloak of darkness, they were able to bring in their wounded man. [Sidenote: _April 8._]