20/28 The task allotted to the 6th Division was a difficult one. It had to issue fan-wise from the village of Vaux Andigny on a 1,500 yards front, advancing 2,500-3,000 yards to a front of 5,000 yards. The 1st Division was to pass through it and push on towards the Sambre Canal. The attack was to be made under a barrage of eight brigades of Field Artillery and eighty machine-guns. The IX Corps employed on this occasion 172 60-pounders and heavy howitzers. |