I think he must have been knocked down by the wind
of a shell--for he certainly was as much astonished as we were at
finding no damage on himself.

By this time I had given orders that the troops were to retire to
their previous positions in and near the village, and it was getting
dusk.

Luard (Norfolks) and a party of twenty-five men were well ahead in the
wood, and received the order to retire, for Luard was heard shouting
it to his men. But nothing has since been heard of him, and I much
regret to say that he was either taken prisoner with most of his men,
or, more probably, killed.

A message now came down from the plateau saying that some East Surreys
and Bedfords were still up in the wood, and should they retire or hold
on? As it was nearly dark and I consequently could not support
them--for if the men could not get through the wire-netting in
daylight they could hardly do so at night--I told them to retire. I
gave this order after I had consulted Rolt, who was somewhere west of
the village; but even if Rolt had not been there I should have given
it, for it would have been impossible to reinforce them adequately in
the circumstances.

So I issued orders for an early reconnaissance and attack next
morning, to be led by the Norfolks; and the troops covered their front
with sentries and bivouacked in and round the village. We were all
short of food that night, for none of our supply carts, and not even a
riding-horse, had come with us. But all or most of the men had an
"iron ration" on them, and this they consumed, with the "unexpired"
portion of their previous day's ration.

The Bedfords took up their position along the railway to the west,
Cheshires on the right, Norfolks right front of village, D.C.L.I. left
front.

As for the Staff, we retired to a farm called La Bizaie,
three-quarters of a mile south of Missy, and close to the river, and
took up our quarters there. There was not a whole pane of glass in the
house, for it had been heavily bombarded--being empty, except for a
few wounded--during the day, and great craters had been formed close
by the walls by the Black Marias. But except at one corner of the roof
of an outhouse, no damage had been done to the buildings--except the
broken glass.

It was a very old farmhouse, as we found out afterwards, part of it
dating back to 1200 and something. Curiously enough, there was a
photograph of an English Colonel (of the R.A.M.C.) on the sideboard--a
frien