More successful than the 24th Battalion raid it resulted in the award of the Military Cross to Captain Harold Price, the Officer Commanding the raid. Lance Corporal Joseph Lee was awarded the Military Medal in the same action and promoted to full Corporal. The Germans too were active in trench raids, being rather keen to find out as much as possible about the coming offensive and rumours were quick to circulate in the Irish Brigade when some men from the Tyneside Scottish were taken prisoner on the night of the 4/5th of June. However it would appear that these men of the Tyneside Scottish followed the Germans back across No-Mans-Land and did not return.
Meanwhile those not involved in the raids were employed on working parties with as many as 600 men a day from each battalion being employed in the Albert, Dernancourt and Franvillers areas. Every sort of stores required for the coming offensive had to be man-handled to dumps in the forward areas, rations, ammunition, barbed wire, grenades, sandbags etc etc. The best job was being attached to the tunnellers working on the 'Y' Sap and Lochnagar mines.
When not employed on working parties, the men were resting or training and the training typically comprised assaulting a position, consolidating and wiring, in preperation for the coming offensive. The working parties were not without danger and on the 11th of June, Private J Devlin, J Harvey and F Horn of the 25th Battalion were wounded by shellfire. After the somewhat unsuccessful raids on the night of the 5/6th, Divisional HQ decided that the raiding parties should try agian, on the night of 25th/26th June. the plan was identical to the previous one with hardly any changes except to the actual personnel involved and even the actual objectives in the German trenches remained the same. It is yet another classic example of those in charge being unflexible in their approach to trench warfare. Indeed why should they be bothered when they themselves would not be involved in the raid. They had distanced themselves from the reality of this new type of warfare. Even the smallest amount of common sense would tell someone that the Germans in their front line trenches would be on the alert for any further raids. As Major Galwey had been wounded, Major J.M Prior would now command the 24th Battalion's raiding party and, with the majority of the casualties in the previous raid occuring in the D Company party, A Company was detailed to take part. The majority of the C Company raiding party went over again. The 26th Battalion's raiding party remained under the command of Captain Price and the NCO's were the same.
This time the Germans were well and truly ready for them. On the right, the raiding party under Major Prior reached the enemy parapet, but then met with very intense rifle and machine-gun fire and very effective bombing
Forced to retire, they had two men wounded; one managed to return to the British Lines by himself, but the other had a more serious wound, and was carried in by Lieutenant Brady and Private E. Hedley.
Meanwhile not far to the left, the Germans were playing a more cunning game. As the raiding pary approached all was quiet and they were allowed to enter the German trenches, but as soon as they were in, they were met with a shower of bombs from each flank and from behind the parados ( rear of the trench ). A hand to hand fight ensued in which it was estimated that the enemy suffered more casualties that the raiders. The bombers, moving quickly fought their way along the enemy trench and the leading man Private William Bullock, had a fierce struggle with a German soldier, who had no desire to be taken prisoner. Unable to capture the German, private Bullock threw him down the steps of a deep dugout, and threw a grenade in after him for good luck.

During the withdrawl, another bomber private John Clark of Newcastle, assisted those of the raiding party who were wounded. Looking back he spotted two Germans about to open fire, so he threw his last bomb at them, then opened fire with his rifle, before helping the wounded through the German wire. As they crossed No-MansLand the covering party under the command of Sergeant John Connolly of Jarrow, headed off a German flank attack, and remained in position until the main party had withdrawn. These members of the 26th Battalion Raiding Party received the Military Medal for their actions during the raid, and Sergeant Connolly was eventually commissioned in the Leinster Regiment. Captain Price was killed as he came back across No-Mans-Land, and other casualties were Captain B.D Mullally and six other ranks wounded but they remained at Duty. Second Lieutenant I Russell and two other ranks were evacuated wounded and one other rank was missing, private William Burgess. The result of the raid was agin disappointing.
The raiding parties did not get much rest, for on the 27th and 28th the Battalions began to move forward in preperation for the opening of the attack. The British artillery had been firing away at the German positions. The men of the Tyneside Irish were aware that the opening of the offensive was very close. Before they set off for the line men wrote their last letters home. Private John Scollen wrote one such letter to his wife Christina and their seven children in Seaham. It has always struck me how sad a task this must have been for men who thought that they would never see their loved ones again, and how heart wrenching it must have been for them. How does one write those very precious feelings and thoughts on one last letter home. The letter written by John has a feeling that he knew he would die in the coming battle.

Tragically John was killed during the attack on the 1st July. His body was never found. His name is recorded on the Thiepval Memorial to the missing: Pier and Face 10 B11B and 12B.

The time for the attack was delayed by forty-eight hours, because heavy summer rain had fallen on the 26th and 27th, the High Command had to consider the implications of the battlefield being flooded. On the 28th the decision was taken to postpone the attack and Divisional and Brigade staff officers had the job of halting and turning round those battalions on their way to the front line. When the offensive was postponed the men of 103 Brigade, who had been sleeping in open fields near Albert, were marched back to billets where they had. Back in billets Captain Falkous snatched a few minutes to write to his mother, describing the events of the past two days.