y had been in our trench we decided to go and look for them,
so Lieut. Dennis Stairs took a party out. He had with him Sergt.
Canning, who has since won the M.M. and his commission. They wandered
about No Man's Land for awhile when they suddenly came upon a supply
of Fritz's bombs. There were a few hundred of them, so it was quite
plain that they intended to make a big raid on us. But when he had the
"25th" to contend with he had the wrong crowd. The next night the same
party went out, prepared for anything that might happen and they
waited by that supply of bombs, and sure enough, quite a few Huns
appeared. Our fellows then threw the bombs, and I can assure you there
were many Huns who never got back home again. We got a little
information from the prisoners taken and that was most important.

Another night, as usual, we had our listening posts out in some of the
shell holes, when one of the men of the "A" Company posts saw a couple
of Huns quite close and immediately opened fire on them, killing one
and wounding the other. It was by means such as these that we were
able to gather very desirable information regarding the enemy, his
strength, probable intentions, and sometimes the effect of our
artillery fire. In fact one of the main reasons for making these raids
was for the very purpose of getting information and also to weaken the
morale of the Germans opposite to us.

While we were here at this section of the front, about June 9th, the
Third Division had to withstand a very heavy bombardment, followed by
a terrible barrage fire, and subsequently a fierce attack. The Germans
managed to get into the trenches but not without paying a dreadful
price.

It was found necessary to send for reinforcements if the trench was to
be re-captured. Imperials relieved us on the St. Eloi front, and we
were speedily conveyed by motor lorries and rushed up to the Ypres
section. Our boys all knew they were in for a hot time but we were
keen to be at it for we were "just spoiling for a fight." We got it
all right, and though we were only here for two days, such was the
severe nature of the fighting, that our casualty list was very heavy.
Incessant rain added to our discomfiture; but the spirit of the boys
was something wonderful to behold.

After a twenty-four hour rest in the huts at Ypres we went to the now
famous "Hill 60" where we remained for seven days. It was while we
were here at "Hill 60" that Sergt. Duffet got the D.C