7. On the morning of Nov. 23, the 51st Division, supported by tanks,
attacked Fontaine-notre-Dame, but was unable to force an entrance. Early
in the afternoon this division repeated its attack from the west, and a
number of tanks entered Fontaine, where they remained till dusk,
inflicting considerable loss on the enemy. We did not succeed, however,
in clearing the village, and at the end of the day no progress had been
made on this part of our front.
At 10:30 A. M. the 40th Division attacked Bourlon Wood, and after four
and a half hours of hard fighting, in which tanks again rendered
valuable assistance to our infantry, captured the whole of the wood and
entered Bourlon village. Here hostile counterattacks prevented our
further progress, and though the village was at one time reported to
have been taken by us, this proved later to be erroneous. A heavy
hostile attack upon our positions in the wood, in which all three
battalions of the 9th Grenadier Regiment appear to have been employed,
was completely repulsed.
Throughout this day, also, the 36th Division and troops of the 56th
(London) Division (T.) were engaged in stubborn fighting in the
neighborhood of Moeuvres and Tadpole Copse, and made some progress.
This struggle for Bourlon resulted in several days of fiercely contested
fighting, in which English, Scottish, Welsh, and Irish battalions,
together with dismounted cavalry, performed most gallant service and
inflicted heavy loss on the enemy.
During the morning of Nov. 24 the enemy twice attacked, and at his
second attempt pressed back our troops in the northeastern corner of the
wood. An immediate counterattack delivered by the 14th Battalion, Argyll
and Sutherland Highlanders, the 15th Hussars, dismounted, and the
remnants of the 119th Infantry Brigade, drove back the enemy in turn,
and by noon our line had been re-established. Meanwhile, dismounted
cavalry had repulsed an attack on the high ground west of Bourlon Wood,
and in the afternoon a third hostile attack upon the wood was stopped by
our artillery and rifle fire.