Under a barrage formed by the French and English artillery the 11th Essex Regiment attacked with great determination, and by the end of the day had achieved the whole of its share of the task. The two battalions of the Chasseurs were, unfortunately, not so successful, with the result that the right of the 11th Essex Regiment was exposed, and it was unable to hold on to a small part of the ground recovered on its extreme right. For this action the Division received a letter of thanks for its "spontaneous" co-operation from General de Mitry, commanding the French Détachement de l'Armée du Nord.
The Division remained in the line as next-door neighbours to the French till the 7th June, when relieved by 33rd Division. Many will retain pleasant memories of our association with our Allies during the three to four weeks that we were alongside them, and of the admirable liaison that existed between us.
During the period of just under three weeks' rest that it enjoyed on this occasion the Division had one brigade always at Dirty Bucket Camp working on rear lines of defence, one training in the St. Jan ter Biezen area, and one at musketry at Cormette, near Tilques. During this period, too, the 71st Trench-mortar Battery and the 18th Trench-mortar Battery were able to be of service to the French, the former being lent to the 46th Division to assist them in an operation on 8th June, the latter co-operating with the 7th (French) Division in a successful raid on the 19th June.
On the 27th June the Division passed to the XIX Corps (Lt.-Gen. Sir H. E. Watts) and relieved the 46th French Division (Chasseurs) in the Dickebusch sector. This was in a very unpleasant front, where the dominating position of the enemy on Kemmel Hill made movement, even in the rear lines, impossible by day, and practically all work, of which there was plenty, had to be done by night.
The chief incidents of the tour of the Division in this sector were the successful attack on Ridgewood, the 1st The Buffs daylight raid on the Brasserie, the sixteen-prisoner night-raid of the 2nd D.L.I. on the Zillebeke front, and the co-operation of the 18th Infantry Brigade with the operations of the 41st Division on our right.