The Australian 4th Division had been sent south to help stem the tide of the German spring offensive towards Amiens, and held a line west and north of the Ancre river.

[1][2] Shortly after the Spring Offensive began, the Australian 3rd and 4th Divisions were deployed south in stages from rest areas in the Flanders region of Belgium to the Somme river valley in France to help stem the initial German success in the Fifth Army's sector.

Despite this, the Australian commanders considered it important to hold the railway line since, if it was not garrisoned, the enemy could assemble in the dead ground behind the embankment.

To mitigate this problem, parties of the 4th Pioneer Battalion had been tasked to tunnel through the embankment, then dig out small T-shaped trenches on the far side.

In doing so, MacLagan was concerned that the 12th (Eastern) Division on his left might be driven in, and specified that if this occurred, his forward commanders could withdraw to the former main line up the hill to the rear.

Late that afternoon, a prisoner-of-war captured by the 3rd Division stated that an attack was pending north of the Somme, and the troops that would be mounting it were already assembled.

In the Official History, Charles Bean noted that the Australian troops were in "bouncing spirits", despite the rain of the previous few days.

The commanding officer of the 48th Battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Raymond Leane, usually highly reticent to crowd forward areas with troops, requested and was granted authority from Gellibrand to hold his front line with three companies.

Due to their exposed locations, the crews of these two batteries were ordered not to show themselves or mount the guns in firing positions during daylight.

In the 13th Brigade area was another unoccupied trench, located at the top of the slope, about 300 yards (270 m) to the right rear of the 47th Battalion's support line, which had been dug prior to First Dernancourt.

[25] Late in the evening of 4 April, a report was received, apparently from a reliable French spy, that converging attacks would be made on Amiens the following day, launched from Albert, and Roye further south.

In response, Congreve ordered the field artillery of the 3rd and 4th Divisions, augmented by some heavy guns, to shell all likely assembly areas commencing at 07:30.

The warning of the pending attack reached the brigade commanders of the 4th Division before midnight, and they ordered out special patrols to search for signs of assembling German troops.

[26] When the warning was received by Whitham, he immediately ordered his support company, under Captain Kennedy, to move from the valley north of Buire-sur-l'Ancre into the series of posts that ran through the CCS.

By the time Whitham returned to his headquarters, Kennedy's company had taken up its positions in the support line, although it was only occupying the posts west of the CCS.

After first light, a thick mist descended over the Ancre valley, obscuring the front line from the support positions further up the hill, and reducing visibility down to 200 yards (180 m).

Although it initially fell only lightly along most of the front line, in the brigade rear area the shelling was, according to Leane, "the heaviest since Pozières", two years earlier.

The artillery were hard hit with both gas and high explosive shells, suffering significant casualties in men and guns.

The sudden barrage also caught the tail of the 45th Battalion as they arrived in their new positions near Leane's and Imlay's headquarters, causing 44 casualties before they could dig in.

[31][32] Soon after this barrage commenced, troops along the embankment could see Germans of II/230 RIR approaching from the direction of the Ancre, and down the main street of Dernancourt that led towards the railway bridge.

The isolated Lewis gun post of Fraser's company on the far side of the bridge was soon engaged in a fierce fight with the advancing Germans, who were working their way towards the railway line under cover of the houses and back gardens of the village.

lines in response to the German bombardment, with the heavy guns shelling likely assembly areas with gas, but without observation they were effectively firing blind.

About 07:25, these troops crossed the railway line, which was in their hands in this sector, and assembled in dead ground in the lower parts of the ravine around which Australian posts were dotted.

[36] About 08:45, an intense minenwerfer barrage began to fall on the front held by the right forward company of the 47th Battalion, just east of the railway bridge.

Simultaneously, lines of German infantry of the 15th IR were seen emerging from the village of Ville-sur-Ancre, advancing towards the railway embankment held by the 52nd Battalion.

Between 09:15 and 09:30, an observer at the quarry saw hand grenades bursting at the embankment, but the officers in charge did not order the guns to be mounted in firing positions.

To cover his flank in case of a German breakthrough on his left, he posted a Lewis gun at the cemetery slightly up the slope to his rear.

Following Whitham's instructions, he sent a runner with a message for the commander of the centre company, Captain Williams, advising him to withdraw to the support line, and promising to hold on for as long as possible to cover their movement.

[39] Between 09:50 and 10:00, a third assault by II/230th RIR struck the troops holding the embankment near Dernancourt, overrunning and killing, wounding and/or capturing most of what remained of the right forward company of the 47th Battalion.

[40] At 10:15, an observer of the machine gun battery at the quarry noticed half-a-dozen men coming up the road from the direction of the railway bridge.