Later in the day we moved up to the east of Cantaing and had just got nicely settled down hoping to get a decent night’s rest when we got orders to cross the Canal de l’Escaut and form up on a road running south from Cambrai near a farm called La Marliere. So off we went cursing the old Boche and the War in general through some gun positions round to a place where a pontoon bridge had been thrown across the Canal. It was a very noisy journey as far as the Canal, and then the fun began. As usual it started to rain--real rain--and it was as black as ink as we plodded along. After a good deal of trekking about we found our road well to the right of the place where we should have hit it--so far so good. We had to put up with a ditch where there were far more machine-gun bullets flying about than was exactly pleasant and had just settled down to sleep when I was sent for by Brigade, and learned there was a ‘show’ hatching. We were to attack at 5.30 in the morning, and were given three objectives. Our attack was roughly due east, and the final objective was a place called Niergnies. The difficulty in the show was the barrage arrangements. No guns up to then had been brought across the Canal, and Niergnies was 5,000 yards away from the nearest gun, also they were in low country, and angles for shooting all wrong. Anyway we were to go on and push the Boche back, and the second Corps on our right was to co-operate with us. About 1.30 a.m. (Sept. 30th) all was settled so far as we could arrange it, and the horrible time of waiting started, we trying to sleep. Zero arrived, our men started off and I sent Hewitt and a few runners on to select a new H.Q. just to the rear of our first objective. Presently one of them came back with the information that the party had arrived all right, having gone through very heavy machine gun fire. He also stated that there was no sign of the Battalion, that it was a very bad place and that one of Hewitt’s men had been hit. We did not like this news, so we went to find out what had happened. It soon became only too evident that the attack was held up, and we had not even been able to reach our first objective. I made my way up to the Battalion who were digging-in under very heavy machine gun fire, about 300 yards east of the road and found they could not get any further forward; they were in some sort of line in the open and in a trench, but in a poor position, under machine-gun fire all the time and it was a case of sitting tight again. Meanwhile, our right flank was thrown back a bit, and the Second Corps Troops who ought to have gone over with us came up but were quite unable to push forward. An anxious morning passed somehow, and then we got orders to resume the attack--in other words, to try again. We tried but only to fail. This meant a lot of reorganising for the Company Commanders, and a tremendous extra strain on the men, but they stuck it and we had to stay where we were.