Two companies of the Kensingtons were sent up as reinforcements, and bombing from the flanks was carried on round the village. By the time it was dark only the eastern portion was not cleared up; and the enemy remained in Gordon Reserve.
The 56th Division was then relieved by the 52nd, and marched out of the line to rest about Boyelles. The captures during these operations were:
29 officers, 1,047 other ranks. 2 77-mm. guns and 1 8-inch howitzer. 200 machine guns and over 50 trench mortars.
[Illustration: 9. THE BATTLES OF ALBERT & THE SCARPE 1918.]
The hard-working but cheery artillery remained in the line. All through the battle they had pushed forward close behind the infantry. 279 On the 25th August the Guards Artillery had returned to their own division, and as a consequence the 56th Divisional front had been covered by the 57th Divisional Artillery on the right and their own artillery on the left. At this time the 13th and 22nd Brigades of the Royal Garrison Artillery had been affiliated with the 56th Divisional Artillery. The enemy paid the closest attention to our artillery, bombarding the battery positions incessantly with high-explosive and gas shells.
On the 29th, early in the morning, all brigades of artillery advanced to the outskirts of Croisilles. In the previous fighting they had been 1,200 yards behind the infantry in Summit Trench. On this same day the 232nd Army Brigade R.F.A. was transferred to the 56th Division, and formed an independent group with S.O.S. lines superimposed. After the advance in the morning the 56th Divisional Artillery became the right group and the 57th the left group. And the next day the 40th Divisional Artillery replaced the 57th.
The artillery passed under the command of the 40th and then the 63rd Divisions, and eventually withdrew from the line on the 5th September, all ranks and horses having suffered severely from gas.
It is interesting to note that the official report of the Battles Nomenclature Committee gives the Battle of Albert the dates 21st-23rd August and boundaries Road Chaulnes--Lamotte--Corbie--Warloy--Acheux-- Souastre--Berles-au-Bois--Brétencourt--Héninel; and the Battle of the Scarpe 1918 the dates 26th-30th August and boundaries Noreuil (exclusive)--St. Leger (exclusive)--Boisleux-au-Mont--Roclincourt-- 280 Bailleul--Oppy. The ground from the right of Boyelles (about the station) to Mercatel is therefore included in both battle fronts--the Battle of the Scarpe opening with the 167th Brigade attack on Croisilles Trench and Fooley Reserve--and places the 56th Division operating on the flank in each battle.