58th went into reserve. The division returned to the line for the Second Battle of Passchendaele (26 October). As it arrived, the weather broke, and the division was forced to jump off from a line of flooded craters in the Poelcapelle area and struggle forward behind a barrage that advanced too quickly. 2/4th Londons were detailed to leap-frog through and take 173rd Bde's second objective, but the exhausted men, with hardly a rifle able to fire because of the mud, only took one post, at Tracas Farm before being pushed back to their start line. The battalion had to be relieved the same night, having suffered 359 casualties – the costliest day in 2/4th Bn's history – and it was reorganised as a single company. The 2/4th Londons now spent a prolonged period out of the battle area, absorbing a draft of over 200 men, but remaining considerably under strength until February, when 2/1st Londons were disbanded and 220 of them joined 2/4th Bn. In December and January the battalion took its turn in trench-holding in the Salient until 58th Division was transferred to the south in January 1918. Here it spent time digging defences, converting former French positions into the newly devised defences in depth. Spring Offensive When the German spring offensive opened on 21 March 1918, 58th Division was positioned astride the River Oise with 173rd Bde north of the river at La Fère. It was covering a wide frontage of about 5000 yards with 2/2nd Londons in the Forward Zone and 2/4th Londons behind them in the Battle Zone, each company being in a 'defended locality' with a central keep and outlying redoubts, the wide spaces between being covered by machine guns. General Oskar von Hutier directed four German divisions under Von Gayl against this front. 173rd Brigade's Signal HQ was knocked out early in the bombardment and no orders went out, but Lt-Col Dann deployed the companies of 2/4th Londons to their positions on his own initiative. The whole position was shrouded in mist, aiding the German infiltration tactics. They cleared the Forward Zone by midday, and 2/4th Londons in the Battle Zone were engaged as the mist lifted. The battalion held on until nightfall, supported by detachments of 2/3rd Londons from reserve and the divisional pioneers of 1/4th Bn Suffolk Regiment. Most of C Company at the Triangle locality, supported by a single 18-pounder field