ve and were to dig in,
just in front of the village. My instructions as to my guns were that
I was to plant one gun on the left flank of the company and one on the
right. When I saw that D. Co., had consolidated their position I was
to start and take the right flank gun up and put it out in a shell
hole about 20 yards in front of D. Co. My left flank gun I was to
leave as it was guarding a sunken road. It was also an understood
thing that we were to leave so many Lewis gunners behind, so when we
started over we had but two trained men per gun, and four others,
untrained, to carry ammunition.

We started to get into position. The glorious 22nd were on our right,
and the 3rd Division on our left, and tho this was our first time
"over" everybody was laughing and eager to get at it. There was that
grand old colonel of ours with a foot rule held in one hand and a map
in the other. We were all lined up in extended order about 1-1/2 miles
from our objective and we had to advance over ground that had been
ploughed up pretty badly by our own artillery that morning. Shortly,
our colonel gave the order to advance. Almost at the same time our
artillery opened up. We advanced in one long extended line. (I must
say that we use a different formation today). We were all joking with
one another. We had fixed bayonets and as we passed a trench I heard
one artillery observing officer say: "By the Gods of War, isn't it
fine." One of my gunners asked me for a chew of tobacco. We passed
some of the trenches which our boys had taken that morning. I saw a
big German lying on his face dead, and a few of our own lying around.
Then again we came across a few more dead Huns. Here were a couple of
skulls which had been thrown up by our artillery. One of our boys
passed the remark that they would not even let the dead rest.

People talk about Fear; I must admit there is such a thing before you
start over, but once you get started you are callous to everything.
You see you own best friend killed alongside of you, but that does not
stop you for you keep right on, never thinking that you may be the
next, and even if you did you would say to yourself that you have got
to go sooner or later, so what's the odds?

We were getting near to the Sugar Refinery that Fritz had put a
barrage across. No matter, we kept on. We got to the trenches held by
one of our other brigades. The second wave is supposed to stop here
for a few minutes whilst the first wa