St. Theodore, Cité Jeanne d'Arc, Cité de Riaumont, the Bois de Lievin, the Bois de Riaumont, and the important tactical point Hill 65.
For the next fourteen months the Division was engaged in trench warfare in various parts of the Cambrai-Lens front, during which time the Canadian Corps on its immediate right, assisted by the 46th Divisional Artillery, made their successful attack on Hill 70. During this action the Infantry of the Division broke up at least one of the enemy's counter-attacks by enfilade fire, causing many casualties. From this neighbourhood the next move was to the Givenchy area, where a line was taken over between the Lawe Canal and Givenchy, including the famous Route “A” Keep, which had a few weeks earlier been so gallantly defended by the 55th Division when they stemmed the German offensive in this part of the line.
During this long spell of trench warfare, “raiding” became the order of the day. Major-General W. Thwaites, C.B., who had assumed command shortly after the Battle of Gommecourt, was a keen disciplinarian and a popular leader. He encouraged, and indeed insisted upon, “raiding” to the utmost, as being the type of warfare best calculated to improve the offensive spirit of the men. Many very clever coups were effected during the next fifteen months. Numerous prisoners were captured in these raids, which materially assisted the process of wearing down the enemy moral. This system of training improved the fighting condition and capacity of the Division to such an extent that former reverses were forgotten, or remembered only in the determination to wipe them out by achieving decisive success in the future. The 46th Division arrived at the scene of the actions described in the following chapters as hard as nails and fit for anything.
