8

" III., "Peace Warfare." 15

" IV., In "the Salient," 23

" V., On the Somme, 30

" VI., Messines, 39

" VII., Ypres Again, 47

" VIII., Cambrai, 60

" IX., At Arras, 68

" X., March the 21st, 73

" XI., The Turn of the Tide, 78

" XII., Through the Hindenburg Line, 83

[Illustration: The "Grey Battery" at St. Omer, May 1917]

CHAPTER I. (p. 001)

Breaking Us In.

On a morning early in August, 1915, the Brigade disembarked at Havre
without mishap to man, horse, or material, and proceeded to a Rest
Camp on the outskirts of the town. We were in France at last! The same
evening the Batteries started to entrain, and every two hours a
complete unit was despatched up the line--to an unknown destination.
The men received refreshments at various Haltes, and the horses were
duly watered and fed, but the journey was, on the whole, long and
tedious. On one occasion only was the monotony broken, and that
unwittingly, by the humour of one of the officers. In the course of
the evening, the train stopped at a small station, and the compartment
in which the officers were settled drew up in front of the Buffet.
Some one asked where we were, and a subaltern, anxious to display his
newly-acquired knowledge of French, replied, "Bouvette," which called
forth no response. Shortly afterwards the train proceeded on its way,
and the occupants of the carriage settled themselves down to sleep.
All passed quietly for the next couple of hours--then the train
stopped once more, and, as luck would have it, again our carriage came
to a standstill directly opposite the buffet of the station. At once a
question was asked as to our whereabouts. The same subaltern, shaking
himself out of a deep slumber, stretched, roused himself, and, peering
out of the window, exclaimed, "Good Lor', still at this beastly hole,
'Bouvette'!" He expressed much surprise at the "unseemly mirth," as he
described it, which followed!!

After detraining, the Battery marched through beautiful country, which
reminded one of the Borders, as it was not unlike the valley of the
Tweed, and we were at once taken to the hearts of the inhabitants (p. 002)
of the good