Saturday 18th
August 1917
Another day
without rain. 43rd Brigade of 14th (Light) Division went into action today.
They have been given the unpleasant duty of attacking Inverness Copse,
graveyard of so many of the hopes of 18th Division, as well as temporary
resting place of so many of its men. Men from the Somerset Light Infantry and
Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry, with support from tanks, have been able to
advance half-way through this troublesome wood and are consolidating their
positions. These woods - Inverness Copse, Glencorse Wood, Nonne Bosschen and
Polygon Wood are, once again, underlining how difficult large bodies of
shattered trees are to take, as did the numerous woods on the Somme last year.
We have heard
from 7th Bedfords. They got on trains at Dickebush Railhead and have moved to
the town of Arneke some miles to the west of Ypres, in France. They will be
heading for billets in a village called Buysscheure a few miles to the
south-west of Arneke as I write these lines.
