at no artillery preparation was possible, because telephone contact with the artillery had been cut off. Two companies fought their way into the wood and the trenches either side. On the right a trench block was built and a German counter-attack repulsed. The 17th (Northern) Division attacked Quadrangle Support Trench early in the morning and again at midday by bombing up trenches but took very little ground. A surprise attack from Quadrangle Trench, by a battalion of the 50th Brigade and one of the 51st Brigade, plus attached bombers, was attempted at On the right flank, German small-arms fire halted the attack by only 40 men, which was then reinforced by two companies from the 50th Brigade but the survivors were forced back to the start line. On the left, the 51st Brigade captured the west end of Quadrangle Support Trench and pressed on towards Contalmaison, destroying the 11th Company, RIR 122. Germans at the west end built a barricade covered by a machine-gun but troops of the 8th South Staffords and the 7th Lincolns advanced either side of Pearl Alley towards Acid Drop Copse and stopped when they realised that there were no British troops on the flanks. The 10th and 12th companies of III Battalion, IR 183 continued to resist attempts by the 50th Brigade to advance and the parties on the left were ordered to retire before dawn, except for a machine-gun team near the copse which were overlooked, the battalion losing By late on 9 July, II and III battalions, IR 183 held the (Cable Trench) and (Forester Trench) and I Battalion was in reserve at Pozières; the I Battalion, RIR 122 garrisoned Contalmasion and the to the west, the III Battalion held Quadrangle Support and Wood Support and the II Battalion was in reserve in the second position behind Contalmaison Villa. The 5th Company, II Battalion was sent to reinforce the 9th Company in Wood Support, which had lost of its men in a bombardment. Another company was sent into Mametz Wood, leaving only the 6th and 7th companies left in reserve. II Battalion, IR Lehr remained along the south side of the wood and Flat Iron Copse, with the III Battalion in reserve around Bazentin le Petit.(The defence of this part of the German front had been conducted by 15 battalions on 1 July (BRIR 6, IR 62, RIR 109,110 and 111) and from