on of the 19th the Orchard was heavily bombarded by
our guns, the shelling continuing till 7.45 p.m., when the Canadian
Scottish advanced to the assault, supported by the 13th Royal
Highlanders of Canada. Simultaneously the 48th Toronto Highlanders
attacked some hundred yards to the right of the Orchard.

These attacks were made in broad daylight, and, despite the torrent of
fire with which the enemy opposed them, the objectives were quickly
gained, though the casualties were most severe, and by night the new
line was consolidated.

Meanwhile the 2nd Brigade, which had been occupying trenches to the
right of the Orchard, had attempted to take a position known as the
"Bexhill Redoubt," but with less success, as the preliminary bombardment
had been quite ineffectual.

Another bombardment of the position was made, and, supported by the
Grenade Company of the 1st Brigade, a portion of the enemy's line to the
right of the Bexhill Redoubt was gained and barricades erected and this
portion held, in spite of a shelling that continued without ceasing the
whole of the 22nd. The enemy attempted a counter-attack during the
afternoon, but were repelled by our machine-gun and artillery fire.
During the night the troops holding this line were relieved by
Strathcona's and King Edward's Horse, then, of course, serving as
infantry.

On the night of May 23rd the Bexhill Redoubt was taken by the 5th and
7th Battalions of the 2nd Brigade, reinforced by a squadron of the
Strathcona's Horse. The captured positions were held all day, despite
the enemy's bombardment--the heaviest shelling this brigade had yet
experienced--and when they were relieved that night by the Royal
Canadian Dragoons and the Eastern Ontario Battalion the brigade had lost
55 officers and 980 men.

The 1st Brigade, during these operations, had been occupying a portion
of the line and suffering severely from shell fire. The writer's
battalion, the Eastern Ontario, had relieved a battalion of the Black
Watch on the night of the 19th near Indian Village. The Highlanders
seemed glad to be leaving; one or two expressed their opinion that it
was a "hell of a hole," a statement no one contradicted, as the place
was vile with mud and stank from unburied corpses.

Between our line and the Western Ontario men, who held the old German
trench ahead of us, lay hundreds of bodies that had been there since the
last winter, for this narrow strip--not much more than a hundred yards