While the British had breached the first line of German defences north of the Somme River, they were now faced with a complete second line of defences which extended along the ridge of high ground from near Thiepval in the north to the villages of Guillemont and Ginchy in the south.
An attack by the 12th (Eastern) Division on Ovillers, north of the Albert-Bapaume road, was a failure.
On their right was the 7th Division which, having been faced with over 1,000 yards (900 m) of no man's land to cross, had crept its assaulting battalions within 100 yards (90 m) of the German wire when the bombardment lifted.
As the British and French armies advanced the Germans dug trenches to defend themselves, after a couple of days of fighting the advance of both the British and French armies was stopped.
The British fired over one and a half millions shells from 1537 guns at the German lines, which should have destroyed the German dug-outs which were dug 9 metres deep into the ground, shred their barbed wire and kill most of the Germans.
September was one of the days of greatest progress for the allies and the British began the third phrase of the battle by advancing on a six mile front to a depth of 2000 to 3,000 yards.
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