nal Artillery were the only two Brigades who
did not move forward during the course of the fight. Moreover, by this
time we were firing almost at extreme range close to the enemy's new
front line, which gives some idea of the distance our men covered.

The day had been an exhausting one for the gunners, and, in order to
give some indication of the work and labour they had been called upon
to do, our battery alone fired over 4000 rounds of ammunition. This
was by no means a bad performance when one takes into consideration
that each shell weighs 35 lbs., and necessitated a goodly amount of
manhandling, but the men all had their "peckers well up," and
displayed much determination throughout.

For a few days following the battle there were a number of small
isolated scraps for positions, and one or two enemy counter-attacks,
before the new front settled down into something like normal
conditions again. Decca-ville and light railways were pushed up
smartly by the R.O.D., and the Engineers constructed new roads, while
Labour Battalions were busily employed repairing the old ones and
clearing up the litter of the battlefield.

Ever since we came into action it had been no secret that our stay in
this area would be of short duration, and that we were only to be
employed in the battle itself, and were only to remain as long as our
services were really required. It was no surprise when, five days (p. 046)
later, orders came through for us to withdraw from the line. We pulled
out back to our wagon line, and from there proceeded through Bailleul
to the little hamlet of Borre, a few miles east of Hazebrouck, where
we remained pending removal to our next destination. We all had the
feeling that our recent tour had been a great success, and were well
satisfied with the part we had taken in the operations, for this was
the first occasion on which we had witnessed a battle go smoothly,
without a hitch from start to finish, and was a great contrast to any
previous one in which we had participated.

A few days in rest sufficed to put the Brigade shipshape once more,
and we were now ready for the next bout. No delay was made in
transferring us to another neighbourhood, and we set out in a
northerly direction, which boded little good, for we knew that
unpleasant events were developing in that quarter.

CHAPTER VII. (p. 047)

Ypres Again.

In the middle of June the Divis