Conditions alter in a battle like this from day to day. But at the time
when the British attack upon the second German line in Longueval and
Bazentin ended, the farther village of Pozières was left as the hub of
the battle for the time being. This point is the summit of the hill on
which the German second line ran. And, probably for that reason, the new
line which the Germans had dug across from their second line to their
third line--so as to have a line still barring our way when we had
broken through their second line--branched off near Pozières to meet the
third line near Flers. The map of the situation at this stage of the
battle will show better than a page of description why it was necessary
that Pozières should next be captured.

There were several days' interval between the failure of the first
attack on Pozières and the night on which the Australians were put at
it. The Germans probably had little chance of improving their position
in the meanwhile, for the village was kept under a slow bombardment with
heavy shells and shrapnel which made movement there dangerous. Our
troops could see occasional parties of Germans hurrying through the
tattered wood and powdered, tumbled foundations. The garrison lost men
steadily, and on about the night of Thursday or Friday, July 20th or
21st, the Second Guard Reserve Division, which had been mainly
responsible for holding this part of the line, was relieved; and a fresh
division, from the lines in front of Ypres, was put in. The new troops
brought in several days' rations with them, and never lacked food or
water. It was probably a belated party of these new-comers that our men
noticed wandering through the village in daytime.

During the afternoon of Saturday our bombardment of Pozières became
heavier. Most of these ruined villages are marked on this shell-swept