morning for a week. Zero Day was not known to the Germans but the imminence of the expected attack was made evident by the springing of the mine. The lifting of the heavy artillery bombardment made it safe for the Germans to emerge and occupy the front defences, despite the surface destruction caused by the preliminary bombardment and the cutting of much of the wire. The Hawthorn Ridge sector was not attacked again until 13 November, during the Battle of the Ancre. For this attack another mine was laid beneath Hawthorn Ridge, this time containing of explosives and Hawthorn Ridge as well as Beaumont-Hamel were captured. The 51st Division had to cross of no man's land, obscured by fog and supported by tanks, a creeping barrage and a machine-gun barrage, which caught German infantry in the open;the Highlanders took An analysis by the German 1st Army headquarters concluded that the positions were lost because of weeks of bombardment, part of which was from the flank and rear of the position, although the original deep-mined dug-outs survived. The British fired a hurricane bombardment each morning to lull the defenders with familiarity and the attack began in the morning after a short period of drumfire. Fog reduced the effect of the German counter-barrage and the front-line infantry were left to repulse the first attack. The 12th Division was severely criticised and the number of recruits in the division from Polish Upper Silesia was blamed on its poor performance. Troops had been slow to emerge from cover and were overrun, no initiative being shown by unit leaders or the divisional command, which failed to act until the 1st Army headquarters intervened. Notes Footnotes References Further reading External links Hawthorn Ridge mine detonation On YouTube Investigation of where the Hawthorn Ridge mine detonation was filmed from in 1916 The Somme Battlefields in One Day Battle of the Somme World War I sites in France Tunnel warfare in World War I Explosions in 1916 Conflicts in 1916 1916 in France Battles of the Western Front (World War I) Battles of World War I involving France Battles of World War I involving Germany Battles of World War I involving the United Kingdom Redoubts