From this it will be seen that the capture of Guillemont--the task which the Division had been ordered to carry out--was no easy matter. The attack was to form part of a larger operation carried out by the whole Fourth Army, in conjunction with the French on the right. It was originally intended that the attack should be made on the 24th of August. Before it could be launched a good deal of work had to be done. The trenches, which had been much damaged in the recent fighting, had to be repaired, and a new line had to be dug to serve as departure trenches for the assaulting troops. The night of the 23rd/24th was spent in digging this new line; the work, however, was so much interrupted by the enemy that not much progress could be made. About 9.15 P.M. a heavy bombardment was opened all along the front and support lines, followed at 10.30 by an advance against the 11th K.R.R.C., who were holding the front line of the 59th Brigade. The enemy was easily driven back by rifle and machine-gun fire, but the trenches were rather badly damaged by the bombardment, which caused about 150 casualties in the battalion attacked. By 11.30 all was quiet, and work was continued. At 12.30 A.M., however, the shelling broke out again, effectually stopping all further work for the night. XIVth Corps therefore ordered the attack to be postponed, confining the activities on the Divisional front to a modified artillery programme in support of operations which were carried out by the divisions on the right and left. On the evening of the 24th, after another heavy bombardment, the enemy attacked between the Quarries, on the west edge of the village, and the railway, but was again driven off, chiefly by machine-gun fire. On the 25th and 26th the Division side-slipped to the right, the new front extending from 500 yards south of the Montauban-Guillemont road to 450 yards north-west of the village. On the 27th the 60th Brigade relieved the 61st in the left sub-sector. On the eve of this relief a direct hit on the headquarters of the 12th R.B., when a conference was taking place, unfortunately wounded five officers.