atly upon both
men and horses.

The battery positions were not long in being located by the enemy, who
expended great quantities of ammunition in his attempts to destroy
them: and he made much use of chemical and mustard shell, which in
time saturated the low-lying ground on which the guns were placed. In
this way he effectively gassed the B.C., a subaltern, and several of
the men, who were all despatched to the wagon line, and the Captain
assumed command for the time being and brought up reliefs with him. By
this time the Battery was again in a very bad way, and a rest was
promised on several occasions, only to be held up time and again with
the exhortation to hold out yet a little while longer. Winter was
rapidly approaching, and it was necessary to adjust our line before
fighting came to a standstill: and a considerable distance had yet to
be traversed before the goal--Passchendaele and the ridge on which it
was situated--could be reached.

The battery, meanwhile, waited on in patience. All the remaining
officers were affected by the mustard gas, as well as the majority of
the gunners, and a sorry sight we presented when, in the first week in
November, an incoming battery took over from us. We then proceeded to
the new wagon lines, near Proven, in an utterly exhausted condition.

CHAPTER VIII. (p. 060)

Cambrai.

Everyone thought that our long-expected rest was now forthcoming, so
it was a great surprise when we were ordered to hold ourselves in
readiness for a long march.

What did it all mean? Were we marching into our new area and having
our rest there or were we to be pitchforked into another scrap?

No indication of our destination was given, and everything seemed most
mysterious: and, when the Brigade arrived in the neighbourhood of
Merville, there did not appear to be any sign of a definite halt. At
all events the journey was being performed in easy stages, as if we
were filling in time, and we were always making further south, till,
passing behind Bethune, the vicinity of Arras was reached. Here news
of the surprise attack at Cambrai first reached our ears, the secret
of which had been kept so well, and, heading in the direction of
Bapaume, we were acquainted with the fact that we were again "for it."

Now, the initial attack, which came as a complete surprise to the
enemy, had met with instant success, and, with the aid of a
considerable