N of Fromelles

On 5 July, during the Battle of the Somme (1 July – 18 November 1916) GHQ informed the three other British army commanders that the German defences on the Somme might soon fall.
The First and Second army commanders were required to choose places to penetrate the German defences, if the attacks on the Somme continued to make progress.
Gaps were to be widened to exploit weakness and disorganisation of the German defence. The Second Army commander, General Herbert Plumer was occupied by preparations for an offensive at Messines Ridge but could spare a division for a joint attack with the First Army at the army boundary.
On 8 July, General Charles Monro (First Army) ordered the IX Corps commander, Lieutenant-General Richard Haking, to plan a two-division attack; Haking proposed to capture Aubers and Fromelles.