 Regarding this operation, he reported that, "the ultimate withdrawal in obedience to the order of the Divisional Commander in no way mitigated its success".A week later, he was given the opportunity to prove the wisdom of his plan to capture Merris.On the night of 29 July, under cover of a precisely planned creeping barrage that worked its way through Merris and beyond it, he sent two companies, totalling about 180 men, on converging lines of attack from the northeast and southwest of the village.