“Letters Received From His Officers, Praise His Efficiency As A Soldier And His Death Is Much Regretted”

Onwards from Templeux la Fosse, the 15th Battalion continued their advance on 6th September.
At 4.00 am the advance continued again and in the dark night, the yellow line was finally reached and “occupied without opposition except from a few snipers”. Leaving the reserve Battalion, here, the Battalion pressed once more now aiming for the Red line. Less than an hour after the attack commenced, they had occupied it with a “few casualties.” remaining where they were until late afternoon, by which time, the reserve battalion had come up.
At around 4.00 pm, the advanced continued and by 5.00pm, they had reached their final objective. Immediately getting the men to consolidate, the C.O. pressed on with a personal reconnaissance, and established that the right-hand flank now looked virtually undefended. Passing this infomation back, 231 Brigade passed through them early the following morning advancing unopposed towards Epehy.
Their going was however slower than the Battalion’s the previous day, for they came across a maze of old and disused trenches and wire, with the ground much churned up by shell fire.
One of those killed as the advance continued was Trooper John Davey. He had been a member of the Loyal Suffolk Hussars since 1917, though he appears to have served before in the Regiment. He had not been drafted to join them in the Middle East but was killed on 6th September when the Battalion were advancing towards Epehy. The Bury Free Press noted of him that “Letters received from his officers, praise his efficiency as a soldier and his death is much regretted”. 

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