On Wednesday Sir Julian Byng, commanding our Third Army, began
an attack on a ten-mile front from the Ancre at Beaucourt northward to Moyenneville. The Germans, holding some of their old positions in front of the strongly fortified embankment of the Albert-Arras Railway, expected attack, but were nevertheless taken completely by surprise in the early morning mist. Preceded by tanks and covered' by a heavy barrage, English and New Zealand divisions stormed the five villages of Beaucourt, Puisieux, Bucquoy, Ablainzeville, and Moyenneville in an hour or two. Then the English troops in the centre went on two miles further, captured Achiet-le-Petit, Logeast Wood, and Courcelles, and thus found themselves before the railway embankment, where desperate fighting continued for the rest of the day. Many prisoners were taken from five German divisions, including the Guard Reserve and the Bavarians. It was a great victory, for the enemy had all the advantage of the ground and of the defences which he constructed in 1914-16, and it may lead to great results. Over two thousand prisoners and a few guns were taken in the course of the day.
