The weather throughout the tour was bad, but on the night of 17th/18th, when we were relieved at midnight by the Sherwood Foresters, it became appalling.  We were not yet due for a rest, having been only four days in the line, and our orders were to spend the night in bivouacs at Kruisstraat and return to trenches the following evening, taking over our old sector “50” to “A7.”  Weakened with sickness and soaked to the skin, we stumbled through black darkness along the track to Kruisstraat—­three miles of slippery mud and water-logged shell holes—­only to find that our bivouac field was flooded, and we must march back to Ouderdom and spend the night in the huts, five miles further west.  We reached home as dawn was breaking, tired out and wet through, and lay down at once to snatch what sleep we could before moving off again at 6-30 p.m.  But for many it was too much, and 150 men reported sick and were in such a weak condition that they were left behind at the huts, where later they were joined by some 40 more who had tried hard to reach trenches but had had to give up and fall out on the way.  The rest of us, marching slowly and by short stages, did eventually relieve the Sherwood Foresters, but so tired as to be absolutely unfit for trenches.  Fortunately for two days the weather was good and the Boche very quiet, there was time for all to get a thorough rest, and by the 20th we had very largely recovered our vigour—­which was just as well, for it proved an exciting tour.

The excitement started about a mile away on our left, when, on the evening of the 19th, the next Division blew up an enormous mine at Hooge, and, with the aid of an intense artillery bombardment, attacked and captured part of the village, including the chateau stables.  The enemy counter-attacked the following night, and, though he made no headway and was driven out with heavy loss, he none the less bombarded our new ground continuously and caused us many casualties.  Accordingly, to make a counter attraction, the Tunnelling Company working with us was asked to blow up part of the enemy’s lines as soon as possible; the blow would be accompanied by an artillery “strafe” by us.  There was at this time such a network of mine galleries in front of “A1,” that Lieut.  Tulloch, R.E., was afraid that the Boche would hear him loading one of the galleries, so, to take no risks, blew a preliminary camouflet on the evening of the 21st, destroying the enemy’s nearest sap.  This was successful, and the work of loading and tamping the mines started at once. 1500 lbs. of ammonal were packed at the end of a gallery underneath the German redoubt opposite “A1,” while at the end of another short gallery a smaller mine was laid, in order to destroy as much as possible of his mine workings.  The date chosen was the 23rd, the time 7 p.m.