 At 18 : 00 , the 40th Battalion received a message that the 37th Battalion was about to attempt to advance from the village to its own objective . From his position , Statton observed a line of German machine gunners firing on the 37th Battalion and preventing its advance . He turned his Lewis Guns on them in an attempt to assist a party of men from the 37th as they attacked . Having failed , a party of thirteen men were assembled and rushed the position soon after , but the group was wiped out before they reached the first gun . Gathering Corporal Upchurch and Privates Styles and Beard , Statton worked his way along under the cover of the Chuignes road embankment . Reaching within 75 metres ( 82 yd ) of the machine gunners and armed with only a revolver , Statton led the three men as they rushed across the open ground towards the German strongpoint . Reaching the position , the party was able to dispose of the first gun and its crew before moving onto the second , where Statton personally shot four of the five crew members and bayoneted the fifth with his own rifle . Seeing this , the two remaining gun teams began to retreat but were killed by Statton 's Lewis Gunners . 
