driven out by heavy howitzer shells, and all the other batteries and DAC received 'more than the usual amount of attention from the enemy', losing many men and horses. CLXXXVI brigade HQ suffered another six-hour bombardment on 3 July, and the whole brigades was withdrawn. It was back in the line on 21 July as 39th Division prepared to take part in the new offensive. The offensive opened with the Battle of Pilckem Ridge on 31 July. Two thirds of the field guns fired a creeping barrage, the other third and the 4.5-inch howitzers provided the protective standing barrage to allow the assaulting troops to reorganise at each objective. The trench mortars fired Thermite flares and oil bombs at Zero hour (03.00) to help the infantry keep direction in the dark. The attacking brigades of 39th Division took the village of St Julien and the strongpoints in their front. By 08.00 they had advanced about to achieve their objectives and were consolidating a position along the flooded Steenbeek to provide a defensive flank for the attackers. Several field batteries moved up to the old British line to give closer support, while the reserve brigade pushed beyond the Steenbeek. But it began to rain, and soon it was almost impossible for the exhausted gunners to get their guns forward through the devastation and mud, and further progress was halted that evening. Flanking fire and fierce German counter-attacks pushed the leading battalions back to the line of the Steenbeek. Here the Germans, wading through mud, were halted by the SOS barrage fired by the field artillery. Elsewhere the battle had been a disappointment to the British, and 39th Division was left holding onto the Steenbeek in mud and under constant shellfire until it was relieved on 5 August. The field batteries continued in action under terrible conditions, suffering from CB fire, while the DAC was bombed and shelled at night, and casualties were high. The next attack, the Battle of Langemarck, was launched on 16 August, with even less success than before. 39th Divisional Artillery was finally relieved on 23 August. 39th Divisional Artillery returned to the front on 1 September and was involved in all the fighting that month, even if the division's infantry were not. Although there were minor operations, the next offensive phase (the Battle of the Menin Road Ridge) was delayed by the weather and the need to