At 2 P.M. the barrage opened and the 10th and 11th K.R.R.C. deployed from their positions and advanced in extended order. They met with little opposition for the first fifteen minutes, but when they came within 700 yards of Metz the enemy’s rifle and machine-gun fire increased. At 2.30 the two companies of the 10th K.R.R.C. on the right flank suffered a good many casualties from the enemy’s posts to the south-east of the village; the two left companies and the 11th Battalion had at this time reached the outskirts of Metz, where they paused for a few moments till the barrage lifted. They entered the village at 2.40 and found it more strongly fortified than had been expected. The left company of the 11th K.R.R.C. was at first held up by a succession of trenches on the north-west of the village, but after a good deal of fighting cleared them all and established a line beyond them. In spite of considerable fire from the houses and from Havrincourt Wood, the centre companies of the attack soon cleared most of Metz, leaving in the enemy’s possession only the northern part of it, where wire and covering fire from the wood held them up for a time. Meanwhile the two right companies of the 10th K.R.R.C. had advanced in line with the rest of the battalion and were just south-east of the village. Here no troops of the 8th Division could be seen, and the enemy counter attacked from the south-east. A company of the 10th R.B. in reserve was at once sent forward, but arriving after the counter attack had been driven off, established a defensive flank facing Gouzeaucourt Wood, and eventually got into touch with the 8th Division. By 3.25 P.M. the whole of Metz was in our hands except a few houses on the north; cellars and dug-outs had been cleared and a number of prisoners taken. The 11th R.B. then advanced on a two company front, with a company of the 10th R.B. on their right. On the left flank the attacking troops immediately came under heavy fire from machine guns in the south-west corner of Havrincourt Wood, and suffered many casualties; they were reinforced by half a company from the supporting line, but could not make much progress. Capt. the Hon. A. M. Bertie, 11th R.B., was awarded the D.S.O. for a gallant effort to silence these machine guns. The troops on the right were under cover of rising ground for the first hundred yards or so, and were able to advance to within a short distance of the first line of trenches, which they captured when the barrage lifted at 3.55 P.M. A fire fight then developed with the enemy, who had retired to the line of the wood, towards which the right companies continued to work forward. By 5 P.M. they had taken Mill Farm on the south edge and were in touch with the 11th K.R.R.C., though the left company was still held up by the machine guns in the south-west corner. These were eventually dislodged by a patrol from the right which worked round their flank, and by 7 P.M. the whole of the objective had been gained.