The action of the Cockcroft took place on 19 August 1917 in the First World War on the Western Front, during the Third Battle of Ypres. At the Battle of Langemarck (16–18 August) the infantry of the 48th (South Midland) Division (Major-General Robert Fanshawe) and the 11th (Northern) Division (Major General Henry Davies) of XVIII Corps had been stopped well short of their objectives. The British had been shot down by the German garrisons of blockhouses and pillbox outposts of the Wilhelmstellung (the third German defensive position). At a conference called by General Hubert Gough, the Fifth Army commander, on 17 August, Gough and the corps commanders arranged for local attacks to be made at various points, to reach a good jumping-off line for another general attack on 25 August.