get properly into the wood, but were
gradually driven in towards the point, where the only entrance to the
wood occurred.

Luckily the Germans had not noticed this either--or there would have
been many more casualties than there were. As it was, a company of the
East Surrey and another one (Allason's) of the Bedfords did get
through to the top of the wood and on to the edge of the open plateau;
but this I did not hear of till later. When the greater part of the
force had got through the opening into the wood they found a few
Germans there and drove them back, killing some. Then they surged on
to a horse-shoe-shaped road further on in the wood, and some men lost
their direction and began firing in front of them at what they
thought were Germans. But they were others of our own, and these began
firing back, also without knowing that they were their friends.
Consequently, although casualties were few, an unpleasant situation
arose, and numbers of men turned about and retired down the hill into
Missy, saying that our artillery was firing into them. This may have
been true, for some shells were bursting over the wood; but whether
they were English or German I do not know to this day.

Anyhow, the stream of men coming back increased. They fell back into
the village, and then came some certainly German shells after them.
For an unpleasant quarter of an hour the little sloping village of
Missy was heavily shelled by shrapnel; but the walls of the houses
were thick, and though of course there were a certain number of
casualties, they were not serious as long as the men kept close to the
south side of the walls. Beilby (our Veterinary officer) for some
reason would keep to the wrong side of the street and was very nearly
killed, the fuse of a shell landing with a whump on a door not two
feet in front of him, and a shrapnel bullet going through his skirt
pocket; but he was not touched. The shrapnel were in bursts of four,
and luckily Moulton-Barrett noticed it, for he calmly held up the
stream of men till the fourth shell had burst, and then let as many as
possible past the open space there till the next bunch arrived, when
he stopped them behind cover,--just like a London policeman directing
traffic.

I remember one man falling, as we thought dead, close to where the
Staff were standing. But he groaned, and Weatherby ran to pick him up.
There was, however, no wound of any sort on him, and after a minute he
got up and went on.