During the three days (May 6-8) our troops were destined to be very
severely tried. They were about to attack a series of positions
scientifically selected in advance which, although not yet joined up
into one line of entrenchment, were already strengthened by works on
their more important tactical features.
The 29th Division led off at 11 a.m., the French corps followed suit
at 11.30 a.m.; every yard was stubbornly contested; some Brigades were
able to advance, others could do no more than maintain themselves.
Positions were carried and held, other positions were carried and lost;
but, broadly, our gunners kept lengthening the fuses of their shrapnel,
and by 1.30 p.m. the line had been pushed forward two to three hundred
yards. Here and there this advance included a Turkish trench, but
generally speaking the main enemy position still lay some distance
ahead of our leading companies.
By 4.30 p.m. it became clear that we should make no more progress that
day. The French Corps were held up by a strong field work. They had
made good a point upon the crest line of the lower slope of the Kereves
Dere ridge, but there they had come under a fire so galling that they
were unable, as it turned out, to entrench until nightfall. The 88th
Brigade could not carry a clump of fir trees to their front; company
after company made the perilous essay, but the wood, swept by hidden
machine-guns, proved a veritable deathtrap. The Lancashire Fusiliers
Brigade also were only just barely holding on and were suffering heavy
losses from these same concealed machine-guns. The troops were ordered
to entrench themselves in line and link up their flanks on either side.
At night, save for rifle fire, there was quiet along the whole British
line. On the right a determined bayonet charge was made upon the
French, who gave ground for the moment, but recovered it again at dawn.