ured two
posts over which many lives had been unavailingly expended during the
two preceding days. Sixty prisoners also were added to their bag.

But the enemy was only surprised--not done with. This was ground that
had been a leaping-off place for his mighty rush in March 1918. Close
behind lay country that had not been trod by Allied troops since the
1914 invasion. He counter-attacked fiercely, and at 5.10 A.M. a
signaller roused me with the message.

"Our attack succeeded in capturing Duncan and Doleful Posts, but failed
on the rest of the front. S.O.S. line will be brought back to the line
it was on after 12 midnight. Bursts of harassing fire will be put down
on the S.O.S. lines and on approaches in rear from now onwards. About
three bursts per hour. Heavy artillery is asked to conform."

I telephoned to the batteries to alter their S.O.S. lines, and told the
colonel what had been done. Then I sought sleep again.

After breakfast the brigade-major telephoned that the Division
immediately north of us was about to attempt the capture of a strong
point that had become a wasps' nest of machine-gunners. "We have to
hold Duncan Post and Doleful Post at all costs," he added. All through
the morning messages from Division artillery and from the liaison
officer told the same tale: fierce sallies and desperate
counter-attacks between small parties of the opposing infantry, who in
places held trench slits and rough earthworks within a mashie shot of
each other. About noon the Germans loosed off a terrible burst of fire
on a 500-yards' front. "Every Boche gun for miles round seemed to be
pulverising that awful bit," "Buller," who had gone forward to observe,
told me afterwards. "My two telephonists hid behind a brick wall that
received two direct hits, and I lay for a quarter of an hour in a
shell-hole without daring to move. Then half a dozen of their
aeroplanes came over in close formation and tried to find our infantry
with their machine-guns.... I got the wind up properly." Our batteries
answered three S.O.S. calls between 10 A.M. and 1 o'clock; and,
simultaneously with a news message from Division stating that British
cavalry had reached Nazareth and crossed the Jordan, that 18,000
prisoners and 160 guns had been captured, and that Liman von Sanders
had escaped by the skin of his teeth, came a report from young Beale
that Germans could be seen massing for a big effort.

I passed this information to the brigade-major,