early on 21 October was repulsed and a British attack planned for the afternoon caught the Germans while still disorganised. Observers from 4 Squadron and 7 Squadron RFC watched the attack and directed artillery fire on German guns with zone calls, intended to suppress as much German artillery as possible rather than to destroy just a few guns. Aftermath Analysis The German defences opposite the 36th (Ulster) Division had been more severely damaged than positions further south. Front line trenches had been demolished, barbed wire had been swept aside and dug outs caved in, which caused the 9th Company of III battalion, RIR 99 many casualties. The British advanced too quickly for the German machine gunners to fire for long before they were overrun. Communications on the German side broke down but news of the breakthrough reached Soden quickly, from Beaucourt Redoubt on the north bank of the Ancre. II Battalion, Bavarian Reserve Regiment 8 (BRIR 8) at Irles, north-east of Thiepval was ordered to counter-attack but did not receive the order until The Brigade commander had already ordered all troops in the area to attack from Goat Redoubt and Grandcourt and then Bram, the commander of BRIR 8 arrived. In the confusion the counter-attack could not be co-ordinated and began piecemeal, with units joining in as they came up. The concentrated bombardment from demolished the remnants of the redoubt and soon after the infantry attacked, the remaining British troops retreated. Artillery support for the 3 September attack was excellent but lack of surprise and the dominating position of Redoubt made success unlikely. The 49th (West Riding) Division troops were tired and had been sent partly trained replacements, said to have had low morale. Some of the replacements were so inexperienced that they thought that they were being ordered to walk into German artillery-fire, rather than follow the British creeping barrage. German analysis of the defeat at Thiepval during the Battle of Thiepval Ridge, ascribed the British success to the defeat of RIR east of the village, which led to the village defences being outflanked. The British had been able to push up to Redoubt by bombing forward with hand grenades. Major-General Arthur Wauchope, the historian of the Black Watch, wrote, Casualties On 1 July, the 36th (Ulster) Division suffered and the 49th (West Riding) Division By the time the 49th (West Riding) Division was relieved by the 25th Division