At 3.15 P.M. orders were received from the First Army to push on to the Bois du Biez, and instructions were issued for the Dehra Dun Brigade to advance, supported by two battalions of the Jalandar Brigade (the 1st Manchesters and 47th Sikhs), which had now come under the orders of the Meerut Division. The deployment for attack along the road running south-west from Neuve Chapelle was not completed until 4.30 P.M., and it was nearly dark by the time the troops reached the line of the river Layes. By 6.30 P.M. a portion of the Brigade had reached the western edge of the wood, guided in the pitch darkness by a burning house on its extreme north-west corner. The leading companies of the 2nd Gurkhas under Major Watt and Captain Dallas Smith crossed the road, occupied some houses, and commenced to dig in at the edge of the wood. Major H. Nicolay was killed during this operation. A portion of the 9th Gurkhas on the left of the 2nd Gurkhas also reached the wood. In this advance both battalions moved with the greatest steadiness under rifle and machine-gun fire from both flanks, but although suffering casualties, had soon placed portable bridges across the Layes river and reached the farthest limit attained during the battle. Subadar Mehar Sing Khattri, 9th Gurkhas, was awarded the I.O.M. for his daring leading, and Major Watt was gazetted a D.S.O. Of the conduct of the 4th Seaforths, who were in support of the Gurkhas, General Jacob wrote: “The 4th Seaforths (Territorials) showed itself to be the equal of any Regular Regiment.” The Germans, realising the position, now made a special effort to turn our left flank, but the 9th Gurkhas were equally determined that the attempt should fail, and Lieut. Murray, with a machine-gun, very opportunely stopped the movement. He received the Military Cross for his gallant conduct on this and subsequent days. At 8.7 P.M., 10th March, Jacob, after a consultation with his Battalion Commanders, decided to withdraw from the wood to the line of the Layes. This operation was rendered necessary by the fact that the British Brigade on our left was unable to make any further advance beyond the line of the old British trench, which they had captured earlier in the day. The left flank of the Dehra Dun Brigade was therefore entirely in the air and exposed to machine-gun fire, and to have held on to the wood would only have meant being cut off and adding another long list to the “missing.” The First Army Commander considered that Jacob should have held on, but he was not in a position to judge, and the decision to get back to the Layes was, in the opinion of all those cognisant of the real state of affairs, a correct one. The position was in fact somewhat similar to that of the 8th Gurkhas six months later at the fight near Mauquissart during the battle of Loos. In this case the 8th gallantly held on till it was too late to retire, and paid a terribly heavy toll.