sin

carrying out of man?uvres, with the result that a period of "intensive training" set in. Drill orders took place four days a

s' service with the Brigade, here transferred his allegiance to the sister howitzer battery of the Division, known as "The Grey Battery," from the fact that all the horses were of that colour. Se

n, owing to the good care and attention that was bestowed upon them. The big battles of Vimy Ridge and Arras were

freely indulged in between batteries and brigades, while the full regimental band of one of the Guards'

made it very apparent that we were undoubtedly being "fattened up"-but for what? The question was more than we could answer, but s

on at Meulte prepared for anything. A long and circuitous route was taken via Amiens, Abbeville, Etaples, Boulogne, Calais, St. Omer, and at length we arrived at Arques, near which we remained, in billets, for some considerable t

y using it as a stepping-off place. Added to this, the northern end of the heights afforded him an uninterrupted view of the southern portion of the Ypres salient, which was a source of great

for the coming fray. For a long time this sector had been free from any serious operations, and was considered a kind of resting place for exhaus

ork parties to the scene of action, in order to construct emplacements and make its position habitable. The spot allotted to our battery was in a little hollo

ons, and in this we were aided by the fact that there was a considerable amount of cover b

st advanced position, the 18 pr. batteries ranging from within 600 to 1,000 yards of the front line, with the howitzer batteries immediately behind them. On account of our proximity to the enemy, the two brigades

sequently increased his devastating fire by night, with the result that many dumps in the vicinity were exploded by him. He was bound to hit something, the countryside was so packed with all manne

ccustomed were the men to their gas masks that no serious consequences resulted, although it was distinctly unpleasant

horse. This was all the more remarkable as the engineers had constructed a wide plank road, which passed through the centre of our position, and could not be concealed from our foes, who lavishl

lection devolved upon them, we would unanimously have plumped for the other one. They had no landmarks likely to attract hostile fire, and thus occasion them the unpleasant sensation of living on top of a volcano, while we were slap-bang

guns in the line were allowed to take part at one time. A row of O.P.'s had been constructed on Hill 65, which overlooked the valley and town of Messines. A fine sight was witnes

for surely no battle ever ran so smoothly from first to last, and it will always be looked back upon by the British soldier as a model of triumphant organisation. The battle only lasted a single day, but in that time the formidable ne

nd, on the evening previous to the attack, the troops passed us noiselessly and in perfect order on their way to their various points of assembly. All were in excellent spirits, which augured well for the next day, and a feeling of calm confidence

ration for months beforehand. This was the sign for the guns to open out, and the assault was launched from north of St. Eloi in the Salie

ide to side as if they were on board ship in a rough sea. Some indication of the colossal nature of these upheavals may be gauged from the fact that the craters were, in some c

rength for the first time. They belched forth concentrated death, the roar reached such a deafening crescendo that conversation was entirely out of the

e was gained, and the men swept on and disappeared over the crest, leaving the mopping-up parties to complete their work. The Tanks bravely waddled up after them, in

row was also out of action, they too galloped past and took up their place again in "No Man's Land," while the Engineers worked at their highest pressure to pull down trenches and prepare the w

they passed the array of guns, they paused and gazed in evident wonder at the huge concentrati

front, various reliefs were in process of taking place at the actual time of the assault. The consequence was his defence was thrown into a state of confu

o take up their allotted positions beyond the recently captured enemy trenches, before entering upon the second and final stage of the battle. When the creeping barrage, which had remained stationary during this period, went for

ced. His shooting, therefore, was rather wild and erratic, as he evidently had not had sufficient time to register his guns properly in the new positions. The resu

our hands, and the work of consolidating the fruitful gains

ot pushed with much vigour, and no success was secured in that

ing the men were, more or less, securely "dug in," except in a few places where the line

n our rear were now well in front of us, and on this sector the Divisional Artillery were the only two Brigades who did not move forward during the course of the

r battery alone fired over 4000 rounds of ammunition. This was by no means a bad performance when one takes into consideration that each shell weigh

new front settled down into something like normal conditions again. Decca-ville and light railways were pushed up smartly by the R.O.D., and the

e through for us to withdraw from the line. We pulled out back to our wagon line, and from there proceeded through Bailleul to the little hamlet of Borre, a few miles east of Hazebrouck, where we remained pending removal to our next destination. We all had the feeling that our recent tour

t bout. No delay was made in transferring us to another neighbourhood, and we set out in a northerly