ossibility of making tea, while even the nerve soothing
cigarette was out of the question.

At 4.45 a.m. the Brigade advanced--the 7th on our right, and the 6th on
their right again, while the Argylls were in reserve. "B" and "D"
Companies moved through "A" Company's picket line and extended by
platoons in succession as they got clear--"B" Company being on the left.
"A" Company closed immediately the leading line was through and followed
on in support to "D" Company, while "C" supported "B." It was beginning
to get light and the indignant Turks suddenly perceiving lines of rough
looking men advancing upon them, opened a brisk fire, to which was soon
added the obscene stuttering of machine guns. They could, however, do
little execution in the half light and, completely taken by surprise,
they did not wait to try conclusions with us, but decamped, so that we
were on our first objective, the line hill 230--Tel el Ahmar--in a very
short time. Meanwhile our artillery had begun to join in and were
registering Mansura Ridge. Four patrols were pushed forward and found
the ground clear to the bottom of the ridge, and as soon as the
artillery had finished they scaled the cliffs and looked over the top
into open country stretching away to Ali el Muntar. The patrols under
Lieut. A.R. MacEwen, who subsequently received the M.C., and Lieut.
T.B. Clark pushed on, met by a good deal of sniping, and had the
pleasure of sending a Turkish cavalry vedette off at a hasty gallop. The
enemy artillery were now beginning to take a hand in the game and having
an intimate knowledge of the ground, as well as good observation as the
light grew, were able to plaster the nullahs, in which we had mostly
taken shelter, most assiduously. One shell fell within a few paces of
the C.O. who was calmly moving forward in the open, but he did not so
much as turn his head--no bad example for the men of the support
companies, who witnessed the incident, and many of whom were under
shell-fire for the first time. At 6.30 the two leading companies
continued the advance and topped the Mansura Ridge. They were met by
shell fire and a good deal of machine-gun fire from the right flank, the
direction of Lees Hill and Outpost Hill, but the Turkish infantry had
evidently determined to take no further share in the matter and had
vanished from the scene.

There was thus no further prospect of a fight and "B" and "D" Companies
began the more prosaic business of digging in