and examine various things of interest.
I found a regular dump of German bombs at Bazentin-le-Grand, and some
of these were collected for training purposes.

There were some Divisional baths at Bazentin-le-Petit, and I remember
having a most cold and miserable bath there one night; but it was
better than none at all. It was surprising how quickly the heavy
railway had been brought along. It now reached High Wood, but of
course did not cross the ridge, which would have been in view of the
enemy. About January 15 we went back to the line in very cold weather,
and B.H.Q. stayed at the Cough Drop again for eight days. During this
time I set to work completing the bomb store at Hexham Road, and
filling it with grenades. Each morning I got a party of about sixteen
men, and we collected a lot of filled sandbags to pack round the
framework and shed which were soon finished. The Brigade observers
held a post in the old Flers Line, from which good observation was
obtained on the ground between Loupart Wood and Grevillers. It was not
difficult to get the heavy gunners to fire on German working-parties
that were spotted by the observers; and several parties were duly
dispersed by our shells. Before we left the line this time, the
Brigade bomb store at Hexham Road was completed and filled. And when I
visited the district again in June 1917 it was still standing. I also
began now to write out the Brigade Intelligence Reports which were
sent in each day, and contained a summary of the events that had
happened or had been observed on our front. On January 23 we went back
to the camp north of Mametz Wood.

After a few days we moved off to Albert, and stayed two or three days
in a house near the railway line. The town got both bombed and shelled
at times, though not very severely. After this we moved off to the
village of Dernancourt for a short rest.

Major C.G. Johnson, M.C., who was adjutant of the 7th N.F. when I
joined the battalion, was now attached to B.H.Q. as
Assistant-Staff-Captain. He was an exceedingly able man, and had a good
knowledge of military law. We all liked him well as adjutant of the
battalion, and our relations at B.H.Q. were always friendly. He left us
eventually to become D.A.Q.M.G. in a higher Staff formation.

FOOTNOTES:

[13] Pte. Slack (7th N.F.), a Brigade pioneer, helped me greatly with
the carpenter's work.

XX

FRANCE AND THE FRENCH

The war has done at least one thing for me. It has op