Peter Cane led his platoon straight up the railway cutting, not sending out scouts like in the textbook. The Germans had a machine-gun set up at a railwayman's hut on a bend ahead, to protect this approach, and this opened fire, hitting many of the platoon at once. Lieutenant Cane and one of his corporals were hit and killed. Among those wounded were two twins Privates Claude and Tom Gronert. On lookers believed that one twin was hit and wounded the other went to help and was also hit, then both were hit for the last time and killed. Major Crawley worried, long afterwards about sending Lieutenant Cane, instead of a newer officer who might be more cautiously.
B Company would stay on the lower slopes of Den Brink for the next four hours. The Germans were not driven off but they were kept occupied until it became to dark for them to threaten the road below. It was not until midnight that the company was able to disengage and resume its progress.
