they were halted and then driven back by a counter-attack. That night the British artillery fired on the Germans who were east of Delville Wood with many shells falling short, amongst the South Africans. This was again followed by German artillery commencing their barrage on the wood. Many of the 186 German guns involved had been hurriedly transported from Verdun and explosions illuminated the forest in flashes, making sleep virtually impossible. Fighting continued throughout the day and that night, the Germans withdrew from the north-west corner of Delville Wood and northern Longueval to enable their artillery to bombard the entire Wood and village. This withdrawal allowed the 1st South African Regiment to push northwards and to link up with the 76th Brigade (3rd Division), which was similarly advancing on Longueval. The junction did not last long; at 08h00 on 18 July the German artillery commenced firing on Delville Wood again, but this time from three sides and the bombardment endured for seven-and-a-half hours. At times the incidence of explosions was seven per second. On that day, in an area less than one square mile, 20 000 shells fell. Thackeray replaces Tanner At 1450 Lukin advised Tanner, who had been wounded, that he was to assign command of the forces in the Wood to Colonel Thackeray of the 3rd Regiment. He was instructed to bring forward all scratch reinforcements he could find and to take over command of the South African troops in the Wood, which he did – entering the wood with 150 men, all of whom were battle-weary as the result of three days fighting. All Companies were by now calling for reinforcements or requesting authority to withdraw from the area being pounded by artillery. The reply was that "...Delville Wood is to be held at all costs." Casualties were further increasing by the hour in all sectors and in the early afternoon, A and C Companies of the 3rd Regiment were overrun by the Germans, who approached from the rear; through the devastated wood. Mud blown up by the intense barrage had caused most weapons to stop working, cleaning equipment had all been consumed and the troops had now been without food for over 72 hours and more importantly – they were now without water too. Another German attack at 1700 was rebuffed but by now, companies were reduced to so few men, that they could no longer