done a long continuous tour in the trenches were relieved one
night, put into the fighting front on the following night, and
twenty-four hours later had to deliver an attack. The enemy, concerned
about the fate of Hill 70, concentrated a very formidable
artillery on the narrow front involved, and the bombardments and
barrages on the front of attack were of exceptional severity. The
extent to which the Division was stretched on the rest of its front is
exemplified by two incidents. On one occasion an enemy raid penetrated
both our front and support lines without being detected or meeting
anyone, and came upon our reserve line by chance at the only place on
the front of the brigade concerned where there was one company in that
line. At another part of the front it was found, when normal
conditions were restored, that in an abandoned part of our front line
between two posts, the enemy had actually made himself so much at home
that he had established a small dump of rations and bombs.

For the manner in which the Division had followed up and pressed the
enemy withdrawal it received the thanks of the Commander-in-Chief.

On the 26th June 1917 the 46th Division was engaged on our right in
active operations in the outskirts of Lens. The 2nd Sherwood Foresters
and the 9th Norfolk Regiment were placed at the disposal of the 46th
Division for these operations. The 9th Norfolk Regiment was not
actively engaged, but the 2nd Sherwood Foresters, used in the later
stages of the attack, fought with great gallantry and suffered fairly
heavily.

On the 25th July the Division was relieved after a continuous tour in
the Loos front of just under five months--a period of particularly
bitter and severe trench warfare. Trench-mortaring was continuous on
both sides on the greater part of the front held, and shelling heavy.
The artillery suffered no less severely than the infantry, owing to
the very restricted choice of positions and the advantages of the
observation enjoyed by the enemy. Raids and counter-raids were
numerous. An analysis of the diary shows that during the six months
from the end of January to the end of July the Division carried out
30 raids, of which 13 were successful in obtaining their objective
and securing prisoners (total for the 13 raids: 54), 11 secured their
objective but failed to yield any prisoners, and only 6 definitely
failed. During the same period the enemy attempted 21 raids, of which
only 4 succeeded in tak