They reached the extreme limit of their advance with outposts at two more fortified farms-WURST and Aviatik Farms-from which two days later a delayed report came back from the last remaining officer of the party that he had reached this high ground in front of WURST Farm, and that his battalion was badly depleted.
"From Bapaume to Passchendaele, 1917"
Philip Gibbs
As I have already said, it was the men of Lancashire with battalions of the Liverpool Regiment of the 55th Division who went up from Wieltje against the concrete forts, where they fought in many independent little actions under platoon commanders, who shot down the gunners of five German batteries, and went forward as though on the drill-ground, in spite of heavy losses and great fire, to WURST Farm and the high ground below the Gravenstafel, until they were forced to fall back somewhat under a heavy German counter-attack, when 160 men covered the withdrawal, and ten alone got back.
"From Bapaume to Passchendaele, 1917"
Philip Gibbs
The ground in front of the London Territorials was bad and difficult-bad because it was intersected with swamps and cut up by weeks of shell-fire, and horribly difficult because of a ridge rising up on the left to the German strong point of WURST Farm.
"From Bapaume to Passchendaele, 1917"
Philip Gibbs