Bourlon Village and Wood. Advance East of Arras, October 1918. Photo shows village of Bourlon and road, a supply vehicle and a group of ammunition limbers or wagons are in the foreground. Bourlon is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region in northern France. Background: By September 1918 the British advance had made great gains since its launch at Amiens on 8 August. On 15 September Field Marshal Haig held a conference at Third Army’s HQ at Villers l’Hôpital near Doullens, with three of his Army Commanders: Sir Henry Horne (First Army), Hon Sir Julian Byng (Third Army) and Sir Henry Rawlinson (Fourth Army - which contained the Canadian Corps). Haig outlined his desire to begin preparatory work for a full scale assault on the German’s Hindenburg Line running between Cambrai and St Quentin. To ensure that the Third Army’s left flank was secured, the First Army would take Bourlon Wood and then hold a line along the Scarpe and Escaut (Schelde) Rivers as far north as Valenciennes. The assault on Bourlon Wood was delegated to General Sir Arthur Currie’s Canadian Corps who would have to force a passage across the Canal du Nord prior to taking the wood which sits on the highest hill in the neighbourhood. The attack was on 27 September 1918. On the extreme left the 3rd Canadian Infantry Brigade (1st Canadian Division) successfully seized the canal in a dry sector and rapidly secured the village of Sains-lès-Marquion and the town of Marquion. Through this breach in the German lines more troops poured and began widening the front. On their right the 4th Canadian Division crossed the canal and quickly seized their first objective known as the Red Line. From here, they were leapfrogged by the 11th and 12th Brigades (including the 72nd Battalion) who immediately encountered difficulties in front of Bourlon. To their right the 52nd British Division of Third Army had not been able to advance as quickly as the Canadians and this had left the Canadian right wing hanging in the air and exposed to enfilading fire. Fighting its way forward the 87th Bn (11th Brigade) managed to fight its way into the southern half of Bourlon village by 0945 hours. The 54th Bn then passed through them and advanced around the northern perimeter of the wood almost reaching Fontaine Notre Dame on the far side by 1900 hours. The plan though had been to encircle the wood and with the British held up the 102nd Battalion were forced to form a defensive flank along the Bapaume Road rather than being able to advance as had been hoped. Bourlon village fell to the Canadian 12th Brigade who continued to advance to just beyond their final objective the Blue Line.