the moonlight with the
ruined village to one side and the fields stretching far away on
either hand gave me an eerie feeling. I came upon four dead horses
which had been killed that evening. To add to the strangeness of the
situation, there was a strong scent of tear-gas in the air, which made
my eyes water. Not a living soul could I see in the long white road.

Suddenly I heard behind me the sound of a troop of horses. I turned
and saw coming towards me one of the strangest sights I have ever
seen, and one which fitted in well with the ghostly character of the
surroundings. It was a troop of mounted men carrying ammunition. They
wore their gas masks, and as they came nearer, and I could see them
more distinctly in the moonlight, the long masks with their two big
glass eye-pieces gave the men a horse-like appearance. They looked
like horses upon horses, and did not seem to be like human beings at
all. I was quite glad when they had passed. I walked on till I came to
what was known as Centre Way. It was a path, sometimes with bath-mats
on it, which led across the fields down to the battery positions in
the valley. Huge shell holes, half filled with water, pitted the
fields in every direction, and on the slippery wood I had great
difficulty to keep from sliding into those which were skirted by the
path. Far off beyond Courcellette I saw the German flare-lights and
the bursting of shells. It was a scene of vast desolation, weird
beyond description. I had some difficulty when I got into the trench
at the end of Centre Way, in finding the 11th Battery. The ground had
been ploughed by shells and the trenches were heavy with soft and
clinging mud. At last I met a sentry who told me where the O.C.'s (p. 156)
dugout was. It was then about half-past three in the morning, but I
went down the steps, and there, having been kindly welcomed, was given
a blanket on the floor. I started at 6 a.m. with a young sergeant for
Death Valley, where I was to get a runner to take me to Regina Trench.
The sergeant was a splendid young fellow from Montreal who had won the
D.C.M., and was most highly thought of in the battery. He was
afterwards killed on Vimy Ridge, where I buried him in the cemetery
near Thelus. I had been warned that we were going to make a
bombardment of the enemy's lines that morning, and that I ought to be
out of the way before that began. I left the sergeant near
Courcellette and made my way over to the Brigade Headquarters