had had upwards of 45 casualties.  Among the killed was L/Cpl.  Biddles of “A” Company, who had risked death many times on patrol, only to be hit when sitting quietly in a trench eating his breakfast.  This N.C.O., old enough to have his son serving in the company with him, was never happier than when wandering about in No Man’s Land, either by day or night, and from the first to the last day of every tour he spent his time either patrolling, or preparing for his next patrol.  Early in the morning of the 23rd we reached once more the huts at Ouderdom, having at last had the sense to have the limbers to meet us at Kruisstraat to carry packs, which at this time we always took into the line with us.  We had been away from even hut civilisation for twenty-four days—­quite long enough when those days have to be spent in the mud, noise and discomfort of the Salient.

Our rest, while fortunately comparatively free of working parties, contained two features of interest, an inspection by our new Brigadier, and an officers’ cricket match against the 16th Lancers.  For the first we were able, with the aid of a recently-arrived draft of 100 men, to parade moderately strong, and Gen. Kemp was well satisfied with our “turn-out.”  It was, however, to be regretted that the only soldier to whom he spoke happened to be a blacksmith, for which trade we had the previous day sent to Brigade Headquarters a “nil” return.  The cricket match was a great success, and thanks to some excellent batting by Lieut.  Langdale, we came away victorious.  The light training which we carried out each day now included a very considerable amount of bomb throwing, and it seemed as though the bomb was to be made the chief weapon of the infantry soldier, instead of the rifle and bayonet, which always has been, and always will be, a far better weapon than any bomb.  However, the new act had to be learnt, and a Battalion bomb squad was soon formed under 2nd Lieut.  R. Ward Jackson, whose chief assistants were L/Cpl.  R.H.  Goodman, Ptes.  W.H.  Hallam, P. Bowler, E.M.  Hewson, A. Archer, F. Whitbread, J.W.  Percival and others, many of whom afterwards became N.C.O.’s.  Every officer and man had to throw a live grenade, and, as there were eight or nine different kinds, he also had to have some mechanical knowledge, while the instructor had to know considerably more about explosives than a sapper.

The excitement of our next tour started before we reached Kruisstraat.  All day long (the 28th August) a single 9.2” Howitzer had been firing behind a farm house on the track to the Indian Transport Field, and, as we marched past the position by platoons, all of us interested in watching the loading process, it suddenly blew up, sending breach-block, sheets of cast iron and enormous fragments of base plate and carriage several hundred yards through the air.  We ran at once to the nearest cover, but three men were hit by falling fragments, and we were lucky not to lose more, for several of us, including 2nd Lieut.