James Holland

And Point 102 is above that.

And that's where the bulk of the fighting has been.

It's been in this sort of, this block of land to the road from St-Pierre, stroke Tilly, to Fontenay, up the ridge to 102 to 103.

If you think of that as a big rectangle,

That's where most of the fighting has been going on since they've got there on the 8th of June.

And they're still there.

And Martlet, the idea is to get beyond Fontenay to this Roray Ridge, which again is barely a ridge at all.

But that is both to deny that ridge to the enemy and gain it for themselves as an artillery observation point.

So that's the aim of Martlet, as a precursor.

It's like a warm-up act.

The amuse-bouche, the appetiser for Epsom.

And it's split so that...

The 49th Polar Bear Division is split on a two-prong attack, and you've got Sherwood Rangers on the left on the eastern side, and you've got the 4th 7th Dragoon Guards and the 24th Lancers on the right supporting the other brigades of the 49th Polar Bear Division.

And the first day sees B Squadron

in action this is sunday the 25th of june and it's very attritional they don't get as far as they've they're intended to martin's supposed to be a one-day operation to get the ridge they don't get to the ridge but they do get into fontanella peznal

It's a bit of a nightmare, to be perfectly honest.

And B Squadron is battling hard with the infantry in Fontenay on the first day.

And by the end of that evening, Stan Perry, old friend of the show, he's in his tank in B Squadron.

He actually knocks out the spire at Fontenay de Pesnel.

It extends on to the next day because they're in the middle of the battle now.