15 in the morning, the infantry advanced, as is customary
with the Germans, in close formation. The British met this advance
by somewhat weak artillery fire, which, it was afterward explained
was due to continued interruption of the telephonic communications
between the observers and the batteries in the fight. However, as
it was, this fire, added to the machine gun and rifle fire from
the trenches, served to turn the German advance from their original
direction, with the result that they crowded together in the northeast
corner of Givenchy after passing over the first-line trenches of
the Allies' front. Their momentum carried the Germans far into the
center of the village, with remarkably few casualties considering
the murderous fire to which they had been subjected throughout
their impetuous advances.
In the village of Givenchy, however, the Second Welsh Regiment and
the First South Wales Borderers, which had been stationed there
and held in reserve, gave the Germans a warm reception, and when
the First Royal Highlanders came up they delivered a fierce
counterattack. In this they were supported by the fire of the French
artillery, which assistance, however, proved costly to the Allies,
as the French fire and bursting shells killed friend and foe alike.
Street fighting became savage, amid the explosions of shells sent
to enliven the occasion by the French. This concluded the action
for the day and when the smoke cleared away both sides found their
position comparatively little changed and nothing but the thinned
ranks of the combatants reminded the observer that the most severe
kind of fighting had taken place for the best part of a day.
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