the conditions. British plan of attack The infantry were to advance behind a creeping barrage at straight through to the second objective (black line) of 31 July, to capture the , Inverness Copse and Glencorse Wood across the neck of the plateau. The speed of the barrage gave the 18th (Eastern) Division and the 25th Division to complete the attack. On 8 August, Inverness Copse and Glencorse Wood were each bombarded with and heavy shells and bombarded again on 9 August, the first bright day since July. The 18th (Eastern) Division attack by the 55th Brigade was to be on a battalion front of about and the 54th Brigade was to attack with two battalions forward on a front wide. The 74th Brigade of the 25th Division was to attack with its four battalions on the left flank, each on a front, to recapture the , Westhoek and the rest of Westhoek Ridge. By aggressive patrolling, part of the objective on the left centre had already been occupied by 10 August. Battle 18th (Eastern) Division 55th Brigade In the moonlight, German sentries had seen the right flank companies of the 7th Battalion, Queen's Regiment of the 55th Brigade battalion crossing Stirling Castle Ridge to the start line at The Germans had set up advanced posts and some of the Queen's strayed into them as they lurked forwards in the dark. The Germans sent up green SOS rockets and the covering artillery replied at once. The right and right-centre companies were severely bombarded and lost many casualties, leaving many gaps. Just after German field guns and machine-guns began to barrage the Queen's start line and from Stirling Castle north to Westhoek, cutting off the British infantry from supplies and reinforcements. The advance on the right flank "sagged from the beginning" under massed small-arms fire from the front and the southern flank from Jasper Avenue, from which few men escaped. The survivors took cover in shell-holes and later made their way back to the British line in ones and twos. The rear waves were obstructed by tree trunks, uncut wire and mud and could not catch up and fill the gaps. A few men got into Jasper Avenue but could not roll up the Germans further along and their reinforcements moved south to oppose the advance to Inverness Copse. Many German pillboxes in the about deep were undamaged, especially those at the