een started by the Senior
Chaplain of the Australian Division which we had relieved, and he
handed it over to us.

Under our Chaplains' Service the canteen became a most helpful
institution; not only was coffee given away, but many other things,
including cigarettes. Many a man has told me that that drink of coffee
saved his life when he was quite used up.

In Contalmaison itself, there had once been a very fine chateau. It,
like the rest of the village, survived only as a heap of bricks and
rubbish, but the cellars, which the Germans had used as a dressing
station, were very large and from them branched off deep dugouts lined
with planed boards and lit by electric light.

The road which turned to the left led down to a waste of weary ground
in a wide valley where many different units were stationed in dugouts
and holes in the ground. Towards the Pozieres road there was a famous
chalk pit. In the hillside were large dugouts, used by battalions when
out of the line. There was also a light railway, and many huts and
shacks of various kinds. Pozieres looked very much like La Boisselle.
Some heaps or rubbish and earth reddened by bricks and brick-dust
alone showed where the village had been. At Pozieres the Y.M.C.A. had
another coffee-stall, where coffee was given away free. These
coffee-stalls were a great institution, and in addition to the bracing
effect of the drink provided, the rude shack with its cheery fire
always made a pleasant place for rest and conversation.

After Courcelette was taken by the 2nd Division, our front line lay
beyond it past Death Valley on the slope leading down to Regina
Trench, and onward to the villages of Pys and Miraumont. Over all (p. 139)
this stretch of country, waste and dreary as it got to be towards
the end of September, our various fighting units were scattered, and
along that front line, as we pushed the enemy back, our men made the
bitter sacrifice of life and limb. It was a time of iron resolve and
hard work. There was no opportunity now for amusement and social
gatherings. When one spoke to staff officers, they answered in
monosyllables. When one rode in their cars, one had very fixed and
definite times at which to start and to return. The army had set its
teeth and was out to battle in grim earnest. It was a time, however,
of hope and encouragement. When, as we advanced, we saw what the
German defences had been, we were filled with admiration for the
splendid British attac