Courcelette in mid September. The 2nd and 14th battalions were part of the attack that took the Quadrilateral strong point near Ginchy. The territorials and the 10th, 15th and 20th battalions were also involved in this phase, with the 5th battalion having only 92 officers and men fit by 19 September. Le Transloy ridge was the next target in the increasingly wet autumn, this involved the 2nd battalion, the 6th, 8th (temporarily joined with the 1/5th Borderers) and 9th territorials and the 12th and 13th service battalions. These last two captured the village of Le Sars in what the Official History called "...the striking success of the day." The territorials were again involved in the last assault of the Somme offensive, on the Butte de Warlencourt, the 1/6th, 1/8th and 1/9th losing between them nearly 940 officers and men killed, wounded or missing for no gain. In early November the 2/5th and the 2/9th battalions consisting of category B fitness men separately embarked for Salonika and the front against Bulgaria. 1917 Arras The attack along the line at Arras, starting on 9 April was intended as a diversion for the French attack at Nivelle. In the first phase of the attack, the 10th battalion had advanced ~4000 yards through the Hindenburg trench system until relieved on the night of 10 April. The 15th battalion also fought on the first day taking the front line trench (at ~1,000 yards) but being held up afterwards. The territorial battalions were in action in mid and late April south of the village of Guemappe. In the coalfields of Lens the 2nd and 14th battalions fought the Germans over a feature called 'Hill 70' between April and July, adding it as a battle honour to the regiment. Messines The set piece battle of Messines was intended to take high ground to the south of Ypres prior to the northern offensive. After an intense bombardment, the explosion of underground mines and following a creeping barrage the 12th and 13th battalions near Hill 60 advanced ~1,000 yards and the 20th battalion starting from St Eloi advanced nearly 4000 yards with fewer losses than previous operations. Third Ypres The next battle around the Ypres salient was to clear the Germans from the remaining high ground to the East of the city. The 20th battalion was involved in the first day's attacks on 31 July, advancing alongside the Ypres-Comines