in the way of grenades was required than the “Hales” and other long handled types, and to meet this demand someone had invented the “jam tin”—­an ordinary small tin filled with a few nails and some explosive, into the top of which was wired a detonator and friction lighter.  For practice purposes the explosive was left out, and the detonator wired into an empty tin.  Each day lines of men could be seen about the country standing behind a hedge, over which they threw jam tins at imaginary trenches, the aim and object of all being to make the tin burst as soon as possible after hitting the ground.  We were given five seconds fuses, and our orders were, “turn the handle, count four slowly, and then throw.”  Most soldiers wisely counted four fairly rapidly, but Pte.  G. Kelly, of “D” Company, greatly distinguished himself by holding on well past “five,” with the result that the infernal machine exploded within a yard of his head, fortunately doing no damage.

All this time we were about nine miles from the line, and were left in peace by the Boche, except for a single night visit from one of his aeroplanes, which dropped two bombs near Bailleul Station and woke us all up.  We did not know what they were at the time, so were not as alarmed as we might otherwise have been.  In fact “B” Company had a much more trying time when, a few nights later, one of the cows at their billet calved shortly after midnight.  The sentry on duty woke Captain Griffiths, who in turn woke the farmer and tried to explain what had happened.  All to no purpose, for the farmer was quite unable to understand, and in the end was only made to realise the gravity of the situation by the more general and less scientific explanation that “La vache est malade.”

On the 1st April we received a warning order to the effect that the Division would take over shortly a sector of the line South of St. Eloi from the 28th Division, and two days later we marched through Bailleul to some huts on the Dranoutre-Locre road, where we relieved the Northumberland Fusiliers in Brigade support.  The same evening the Company Commanders went with the C.O. and Adjutant to reconnoitre the sector of trenches we were to occupy.  It rained hard all night, and was consequently pitch dark, so that the reconnoitring party could see very little and had a most unpleasant journey, returning to the huts at 2 o’clock the next morning (Easter Day), tired out and soaked to the skin.  During the day the weather improved, and it was a fine night when at 10 p.m., the Battalion paraded and marched in fours though Dranoutre and along the road to within half a mile of Wulverghem.  Here, at “Packhorse” Farm, we were met by guides of the Welsh Regiment (Col.  Marden) and taken into the line.