ines. Fritz soon replied, and things became lively. A shell burst near
us, but our padres took no notice of it, and seemed to regard a little
incident of that kind as a matter of course. Another shell burst on the
cross-roads we had just traversed. It was here we had our first glimpse
of the Hindenburg Line with Crucifix Corner in the foreground. Whilst we
were still at lunch the Germans began to throw over some of their heavy
stuff in the direction of Monchy, which was not far away. The British
camp at Henin had been heavily bombarded a few days before our visit,
and the troops quite properly had to run like rabbits to their burrows.
The last to take refuge in the dug-outs were our two padres, who with a
keen and commendable sense of duty had waited to gather up the cash
before taking refuge from the shells. One of the leaders gives the
following graphic story of his experiences in the Retreat:--

'On the first day of the offensive we were wakened by terrific drum fire
to the north, but on our own immediate stretch of front, the firing was
not so severe. There was therefore no immediate need for evacuation.
During that day the hut work went on as usual, but few men appeared, as
everybody was "standing to." Liquid nourishment of the Y.M.C.A. type was
rather at a discount. We finished serving at a somewhat late hour, and
deemed it advisable to sleep in the dug-out, as a few shells had begun
to sing overhead. Early the next morning we were awakened by the sound
of many men on the move. More and still more French troops were
arriving, and that day we had to speak more French than English. Towards
evening uncomfortable reports began to arrive that the Germans had
several places behind us, some in the immediate rear. "Les avions
Boche," about which the Frenchmen were using "polite" phrases all day,
were continually overhead, and having reported the movement of troops
on the roads, shell-fire began to increase in intensity. Decidedly, it
was "getting warm." Lieutenant-Colonel ---- of the R.A.M.C. and the
Medical Staff with whom I had had the privilege of messing for some time
were very forcible in their advice to me to evacuate with the orderlies.
They were living in a shell-proof dug-out, whereas we had no possible
defence against a direct hit from any kind of shell.

'Several batteries of artillery having been withdrawn from forward
positions, and posted near us, were making sleep impossible and drawing
the enemy's fire. It