 In the meantime , the 4th Rifle Battalion , commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Harold Barrowclough and positioned a distance from the west wall of the ramparts , had carried out scouting expeditions to explore the defences . Gradually , the German posts around the fortifications fell to the attacking platoons of the battalion . As on the northern side of the town , machine @-@ gun fire from the ramparts prevented any further advance . One party reached the outer rampart but became pinned down by gunfire for several hours . By midday , the situation had settled into a temporary stalemate . In the afternoon , some German prisoners of war were sent into the town with an invitation to surrender but this approach was rebuffed , as had been a similar attempt earlier that morning . 
