During the Battle of Arras the British Fifth Army was intended to help the operations of the Third Army, by pushing back German rear guards to the (Hindenburg Line) and then attacking the position from Bullecourt to Quéant, which was from the main Arras–Cambrai road. The German outpost villages from Doignies to Croisilles were captured on 2 April and an attack on a front, with Bullecourt in the centre was planned. The wire-cutting bombardment was delayed by transport difficulties behind the new British front line and the attack of the Third Army, which was originally intended to be simultaneous, took place on 9 April. A tank attack by the Fifth Army was improvised for 10 April on a front of to capture Riencourt and Hendecourt.