were strengthened. The battalion was relieved from Bully Trench at midnight on 10/11 September. The total casualties over the five days were 20 officers and about 250 other ranks. Morval For the Battle of Flers–Courcelette, 1/4th Londons were to follow the assault of 167th (1st London) Bde towards Bouleaux Wood and then 'leap-frog' through it onto the German third line. The attack went in at 06.20 on 15 September, and 1/4th Londons left their bivouacs at 09.00. Progress was slow due to mud and German shellfire, and the battalion was recalled before it had got far, when the rest of the failed attack was cancelled. It was the same story when the division made a second attempt on 18 September: this time the battalion came under heavy German fire, lost a good many men, and had to shelter in muddy shell-craters until the attack was called off. When it was renewed on 25 September (the Battle of Morval) the 1/4th Londons were the right assaulting battalion of 168th Bde, tasked with clearing the northern end of Bouleaux Wood. B and C Companies went over the top at 12.42, seven minutes after zero, to allow other units to come into line, and followed an effective creeping barrage onto the objectives with little opposition, driving the defenders in front of the Lewis guns of the 1/14th Londons (London Scottish). Consolidation of the strongpoints in the wood was hampered by enemy snipers but the positions gained gave excellent observation over the enemy defences. Casualties in this successful operation were only 32. Le Transloy The battalion dug assembly positions for the next phase of the offensive (the Battle of Le Transloy) and was relieved, then unexpectedly brought forward again to act as the centre battalion in 168th Bde's attack on 7 October. The battalion attacked at 13.47, two minutes after the start of the barrage. D Company was virtually wiped out by enemy machine guns in the gun pits that were the objective; C Company was able to take cover in shell holes in dead ground, but B Company, following up, was met by the German counter-bombardment. The remaining attackers lay out in No man's land, no further than 50 yards from their starting position, trying to get round the gun pits, until darkness began to fall and German counter-attacks developed. The battalion was withdrawn having suffered 300 casualties. When the battalion reached its