To understand the British plan it is necessary to understand the ground. The land in this area is very flat and is intersected by drainage ditches, some of which are much too wide to jump, being ten to fifteen feet across. There was little natural cover for infantry and the various enemy positions were difficult to see and identify. In the winter just past, the trenches here hd been continually flooded.

About a mile-and-a-half from the advanced British positions, further behind the German lines, the land gently inclined up to the 'Aubers Ridge' - a feature barely discernible but giving a significant observation point for the enemy looking west of the British front.

The attach would be preceded by a slow, methodical bombardment over several days by heavy artillery - the idea of of a short bombardment had been abandoned trading surprise for weight of shelling.

The build-up of British forces and activity appeared to go unnoticed by the enemy. However, they had furously improved the defences in this area. There was considerable barbed wire defence and the front line was a breastwork, built up mainly of sandbags about shallow fire trenches.

At 5.00am on 9th May British bombardment opened with field guns firing shrapnel at the German wire and howitzers firing high explosive shells onto the front line. Many reports were received that British 4.7-inch shells were falling short, and even on and behind the British front line. (Later it is agreed that this was due to faulty ammunition, as well as excessive wear to gun barrels).

At 5.30am the 2nd Battalion of the Northamptonshire Regiment, Fred's battalion, along with other regiments moved out into No Man's Land, Germany bayonets could be seen behind their parapet. At 5.50am the Northamptonshire Regiment progressed 30 yars from their trench, but were hit by heavy machine-gun and rifle fire, but a party got through one of the gaps blown by the field guns, and into the German front trench. The front and communication trenches were by now very crowded and chaotic; German shelling added to confusion. By this time, the fire across No Man's Land was so intense that forward movement was all but impossible. By 8.30am the attack had established three small lodgements in the enemy positions, but they were not in contact with each other and were under tremendous pressure. Otherwise the attack had come to a standstill and all movement into or out of the trench system had become impossible. The men in the German positions were cut off.

The attack was later abandoned. There is no memorial to the attack at Aubers Ridge.

More than 11,000 British casualties were sustained on 9th May 1915, the vast majority within yards of their own front-line trench. Mile for mile, Division for Division, this was one of the highest rates of loss during the entire war. Fred's battalion, the 2nd Battalion of the Northamptonshire Regiment, lost 426 men - Fred was one of them, his body was never located and there is no identified grave for him.