, but in a way this very fact contributed, in a great
measure, to his undoing; for, it is common knowledge that the more one
frequents deep dug-outs the less inclination there is to emerge from
them when a scrap is taking place.

Finally, some 500 yards in the rear, a support line ran along, which,
though not constructed with the same strength, was formidable enough
in itself.

To judge by the indescribable mess, and by the mass of material left
littered about, the enemy must indeed have beat a hasty retreat. The
dug-outs were filthy to the last degree, and there was no sign of any
system of sanitation having been used by these people, who (p. 062)
considered their "Kultur" to be superlative, and who desired to impose
it on the rest of mankind. All through the campaign, whenever one had
the opportunity of inspecting hostile trenches and billets, one always
found the same thing, filth and lack of sanitation.

Now, for some little time our hold on Bourlon Wood had been
precarious, so a further attack was initiated, and the Guards went in
to straighten the line. They swept through the Wood, taking the
villages of Bourlon and Fontaine, but a gigantic counter attack
pressed them back again owing to reinforcements being late in arriving
to render assistance. They were so badly mauled and cut up that it was
necessary to withdraw them from the line to refit, and infantry from
an "Old Contemptible" Division took their place. Bourlon Wood became
so saturated with gas that, after a great tussle, neither side was
able to tenant it any longer, and so withdrew, leaving a screen of
outposts to prevent any surprise attack.

This was the situation when dawn broke on the 30th of November, a day
which proved to be one of ups and downs for us, and caused many
misgivings to arise in the old country. The object of the enemy was to
pinch either side of the jaws, and, if his attack on the north had met
with equal success with that on the south, there would have been
little hope for the troops in the salient, who undoubtedly would have
been surrounded and cut off. However, as events turned out, our men
held out and remained firm. Moreover, it was afterwards discovered
from captured documents that the enemy's scheme was a large and
ambitious one. Not only was it his intention to retake the whole of
our recent gains, but to press on further through Havrincourt Wood,
and establish himself on a line beyond it.

The Germans employed th