It seems that is was already decided early August that Kemmel hill was to be given up
08.08
The old and yet ever new small-scale battles over a lost piece of trench is repeating itself, even though there was no longer to be any decisive fighting , what was much more shocking, there was secret talk that Kemmel hill was soon to be voluntarily surrendered to the enemy for strategic reasons. the troops, of course, did not yet know and were not allowed to know. but the thought that companies would have to bleed themselves to death on this lost piece of trench in order to voluntarily hand it over later was terrifying.
And yet it had to be, strong forces still had to be tied up here, the opponent have to believe that he would have to reckon with a new offensive . So we stood in a large battle front in limited space. Before midnight on 10.08, the fire changed to normal disturbing fire, and the artillery also brought hours of relaxation. on 10.08, things got restless again in the afternoon. the enemy artillery vigorously patted down the battery positions, and the enemy planes seem to have a party above us. Even at night, they illuminated the rear area and swept the streets where field kitchens and ammunition columns were with their machine guns, a heavy fire lay on ‘Lindenhoek’. A grenade hit the field kitchen of 7 company, 1 horse lay wounded on the ground.
A few days later : Hohe 97″ has long been a favourite target for enemy artillery. But this afternoon it’s going to be bad. Since 6.30 a.m., the thick “Zucherhute” 30.5 cm shells have been dying here with a tremendous roar. They arrive individually at intervals of a few minutes. An English pilot is watching the fire. 50 m short! Our listening station intercepts the correction. Unfortunately, it is remarkably accurate. Night is already approaching. A hit on the connecting tunnel RIR 240 to RIR 239, after some time a second one. The tunnel is buried for 15 metres. 2 dead, 16 wounded.
the battalion already had a flashing connection with the front line. However, the enemy could easily see the light, because when the connection was established, the company station was fired upon with rifle fire. Further communication was planned.
16.08 brought an unpleasant surprise for the regimental staff. After 2 o’clock, a shell of the heaviest calibre rolled in like a trolley, bored its way into the small building, which was normally marked with a cut-out heart,( a toilet) and set the whole area rocking. Luckily, no one was sitting in it. The regiment staff insisted on well-camouflaged wooden barracks, but they were not immune to such calibres.
Source :
Geschichte des badischen (später rheinischen) Reserve-Infanterie-Regiments 240
More next week( I ran out of time)