reported that air reconnaissance indicated an offensive at Fricourt and Gommecourt. First day on the Somme III Corps plan In the III Corps area, heavy artillery was to fire on the German defences in eight lifts and "jump" from one defence line to the next and the infantry advance was to be preceded by barrages which moved back slowly on a timetable. The sixth lift was to fall on a line behind Contalmaison and Pozières, after zero hour and the eighth lift was to fall beyond after a procession into the German defences of in The field artillery barrage was to move very slowly, raking back to the next German trench line in lifts of but faster than the infantry advance, so was not a true creeping barrage. On 28 June, the Fourth Army headquarters ordered that if the initial attacks caused the German defence to collapse, the closest infantry would exploit without waiting for cavalry of the Reserve Army (Lieutenant-General Hubert Gough), which would be west of Albert, ready to advance once the roads had been cleared. On the right flank of III Corps, the 34th Division, was to capture the German positions from the Fricourt Spur and Sausage Valley to the far side of La Boisselle, then advance to a line about short of the German second line from Contalmaison to Pozières. The division would have to capture a fortified village and six German trench lines, in a advance on a front. The 19th (Western) Division (19th (Western) Division) in corps reserve was to move forward to the vacant trenches in the Tara–Usna line, ready to relieve the attacking divisions, after the objectives had been reached. If the German defences collapsed the 19th (Western) Division and 49th (West Riding) Division in reserve, were to advance either side of the Albert–Bapaume road under the command of the Reserve Army. Two columns on the right flank were to be formed by the 101st Brigade (Brigadier-General R. C. Gore) with one battalion leading and a supporting battalion behind, followed by a battalion detached from the 103rd (Tyneside Irish) Brigade (Brigadier-General N. J. G. Cameron). The two columns on the left flank were from the 102nd (Tyneside Scottish) Brigade (Brigadier-General T. P. B. Tiernan) and the remaining two battalions of the 103rd Brigade were to follow the columns. The first objective of the two leading lines of battalions was the German front