At four hours after dawn, the Irish troops formed up in no man's land, most along the sunken Thiepval–Hamel road, obscured by the bombardment and smoke screens on the flanks and moved to within of the German front trench. The artillery and mortar bombardment lifted off the front trench at and the Irish advanced steadily, crossing the front trench with few losses but then the German counter-barrage fell on the rear of the first line and the support companies. As soon as the British guns stopped, machine-gun fire from Thiepval cemetery swept the support battalions as they moved forward and fire from Beaucourt Redoubt across the Ancre, caught the third support battalion on the left flank. The foremost infantry pressed on, reached the B Line at and took a large number of prisoners but German troops emerged from dugouts in the A Line behind the 108th Brigade, where the moppers-up had been killed by machine-gun fire. The leading waves continued to advance and reached the C Line and the corner of Redoubt at The supporting battalion survivors had occupied their objectives but cross-fire from German machine-guns then prevented movement.