By dawn the whole position had been dug in and strongly held, and the 2nd Pioneers had dug a communication trench from the Little Caterpillar to the new front line, 200 yards beyond Big Caterpillar. So successful was the whole operation and so important to High Command that on the following day General Birdwood visited Battalion HQ in the line to convey personally his thanks and appreciation. At about 11.30pm the Battalion was relieved in the front line by the 28th Battalion and moved back to Franvillers. The Battalion Band played the victors home along the Amiens-Albert Road, and for some hours stragglers were still coming in guarding and dragging the captured trophies from the battlefield. Here in fine weather the Battalion stayed for 10 days re-organising and conducting fatigues, but as the German artillery was targeting the village the men had to dig-in in trenches on the outskirts. Most of the men were required each night for fatigue parties, while the trophies obtained during the attack dispatched back to the Australian War Museums.
Following the Twenty-Second 