and included that village and the hamlet of Regnicourt. It was arranged that the Division should not take over the line held by the 6th Division, but that our Infantry should take up position on the line of deployment, shortly before zero. By this hour, all troops of the 6th Division were to be withdrawn west of this line, to avoid the artillery barrage which would cover the attack.
As in the case of former battles on a major scale, the approach to the day of conflict was heralded by the arrival of various free-lance units which had been assigned to the Division by the Corps, for the purpose of assisting our own Artillery and Infantry. On this occasion, a troop of Scots Greys was attached for reconnoitring purposes, and a section of three tanks to assist in mopping up various strong-points whose existence was known or suspected. Two companies of the Life Guards M.G. Battalion and one company of the 6th M.G. Battalion were also allotted to the Division. These were detailed to fire in the machine-gun barrage which would cover the advance of the Infantry, or were given definite tasks in the protection of the flanks of the Division, or in the consolidation of the objectives once they had been gained. Last but not least, the Divisional Artillery was reinforced by the addition of four Brigades of R.H.A. and R.F.A., who were, as before, placed under the orders of the C.R.A., 46th Division.
Owing to the nature and direction of the projected attack, the Artillery, in particular, were faced with a very intricate problem. Similar concentrations of artillery had been arranged to cover the advance of the 6th Division and the American Divisions, and the guns of the Brigades covering the former occupied every available gun-position which existed within range of the 6th Division front. It was, therefore, impossible to site the batteries
