Meanwhile the 6th Battalion were not able to make good the remainder of the village South of the cross roads, which the enemy were holding in greater strength, and it was apparent that he intended to hold the trench on the South side as part of his Lens outposts.
The work put into the cellars of the colliery houses here was quite extraordinary. In several cases, fifteen feet under the cellars, were found subterranean passages with large dormitories and rooms capable of accommodating large numbers of men. These were well furnished, but owing to their depth and the proximity of the enemy, we were unable to use them as much as we should have liked.
Further fighting and a good deal of shelling took place during the night of April 21/22, causing us several casualties, but not any material alteration in the situation. Particularly good work was done during that time by Sergt. Bolton.
It was in these circumstances, and rather to the surprise of those who were acquainted with the position, that orders were received that we were to attack and capture Hill 65 in conjunction with the 6th Battalion, who were at the same time to attack Fosse 3, and make good the remainder of the village and the enemy trench to the South. The attack was to be carried out by C Company, starting from the railway cutting, so far as this had been established by A Company. There was little time to make any preparations. A hasty reconnaissance was made from an old Boche reinforced observation post East of the railway cutting, just off "Absalom" Trench, kindly placed at our disposal by a Gunner Officer, from which an excellent view was obtained of Hill 65, a bare hill with a row or two of colliery cottages on the top, later found to contain the inevitable deep cellars. The rest of the details were fixed at hurriedly summoned conferences of Officers and N.C.O.'s. The final objective was "Advance" Trench, just beyond the Hill. The 137th Brigade on the left were to send patrols to gain touch with us at "Abode" Trench, and the 6th Battalion on the right were to meet our parties in "Admiral" Trench. Their attack was not in line with ours but was more or less echelonned in rear.
As soon as it was dark the Company moved up from their quarters in the River Line to Cité-de-Riaumont, where the men were safely got into the cellars of the houses, relieving part of A Company. Pvte. Bradshaw, a most excellent Company cook, having decided that a Company Mess in Advance Trench would be a dreary place for his Officers without whisky, slung on his back a bottle which the Mess President had thought of leaving behind for the incoming Mess. Unfortunately it proved to be a case of "Love's Labour Lost," for the man, and it is feared the bottle too, fell into the hands of the Boche!