 Lieutenant Colonel F. O. Chilton 's 2 / 2nd Infantry Battalion found that it was best to keep skirmishing forward throughout this advance , because going to ground for any length of time meant sitting in the middle of the enemy artillery concentrations that inflicted further casualties . The Australian troops made good progress , six tank crossings were readied and mines between them and the wire had been detected . Five minutes later , the 23 Matildas of the 7th Royal Tank Regiment advanced , accompanied by the 2 / 2nd Infantry Battalion . Passing through the gaps , they swung right along the double line of posts . 
