re was a landmark behind the German lines in this sector known as
"the hole in the wall." It was marked on all our maps used by the
artillery for ranging, and was the object on which we set our zero
lines to get bearings of other objects. One day "the hole in the wall"
disappeared, and there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth. Did the
Germans destroy it or was it the rats that undermined its foundations?
I fancy it was like the celebrated "One Horse Shay"--every brick in the
wall that surrounded the hole had been wearing away for years, and at
the stroke of Fate all crumbled into dust. We were able to do without
our old friend, as Fritz very kindly built up in the churchyard at
Fromelles a large red earthwork that could be seen for miles, and which
our big guns sought unsuccessfully to destroy but made the entrance to
it very unhealthy.

We had some crack sharpshooters or snipers in trees and also on top of
ruins, but took care never to have them near our observation posts lest
they should draw fire. I had one man who was a King's prize-winner,
and he must have accounted for well over a hundred of the enemy, some
of whom may have thought themselves quite secure when they exposed but
a portion of their body eight hundred or a thousand yards from our
trenches. Through the wasting of skilled men in unsuitable work which
is prevalent in all our armies, this man was sent forward in a bayonet
charge and killed. In his own job he was worth a battalion but in a
charge of no more value than any other man. The snipers and observers
make effective use of camouflage, and have uniforms and rifle-covers to
blend with their background--spotted for work among trees with foliage,
_a la_ Mr. Leopard--striped when in long grass or crops like Stripes of
the jungle. We have suits resembling the bark of a tree, and some
earth-colored for ploughed ground, also one made from sand-bags for the
top of the parapet.

I could fill a volume with the happenings during our many months in
these trenches.

We had great sport through the use of a dummy trench. This was a ditch
which we dug about seventy-five yards behind our front line running
parallel to it. We would light fires in this about meal-times, and now
and again during the day send a file of men along it who would
occasionally expose their bayonets to view above the top. This ditch
would appear to the German aeroplanes exactly like a trench, and as
they used their second lin