our officer had already taken a watch on it and gave the
alarm just a few seconds before the whole building went
clean up into the air.

"We then began to retrace our steps along the railway out to
the Hill. Each man carried two boxes of bombs. Just as we
reached the communication trench, leading on to the Hill
itself, the Boches sent over several of the tear-gas shells.
We stumbled about half-blind, rubbing our eyes. The whole
party realised that the boys holding the Hill needed the
bombs, so we groped our way along as best we could,
snuffling and coughing, our eyes blinking and streaming. We
stood at intervals and passed the bombs from one to the
other, and had nearly completed our job when the word came
down that no one was to leave the Hill, as a counter-attack
was taking place a few minutes before 6 o'clock. We had
then been at it for nearly ten hours. By this time the
bombardment from both sides was stupendous; every gun on
each side seemed concentrated on this one little stretch, on
this small mound.

"Six o'clock came and I heard a shrill whistle and knew that
our boys were just going over the top. Immediately there was
a deafening rattle of machine guns and rifle fire. And then
a stream of wounded poured down this communication trench.
The wounds were terrible, mostly bayonet. None were dressed;
there had been no time, they were just as they had been
received. Many a poor chap succumbed to his injuries as he
staggered along our trench. To keep the gangway clear we had
to lift these dead bodies out and put them on the top of the
parapets. It was ghastly, but you get accustomed to ghastly
things out here. You realise that fifty dead bodies are not
equal to one living. And these poor fellows, who only a few
minutes before had been alive and full of vigour, were now
just blocking the trench. And so we simply lifted the bodies
out and cast them over the top. By this time the trench was
absolutely full of wounded, and our little party was told to
act as stretcher-bearers, and to get the stretcher cases
down. We were only too glad to do something to help. The
first man that my chum and I carried died half-way down the
cutting. We felt sorry for him, but could do nothing. He was
dead. So we lifted his body on to the si