“When we got back to Bilge Trench we found that there had been two or three casualties, and one dug-out totally demolished.  Colonel Best-Dunkley came on the scene, and started strafing one or two people about something.  He stayed and had a cup of tea in our mess.  He asked me whether I could tell him what were the six infantry regiments, including the Lancashire Fusiliers, which took part in the Battle of Minden!  I confessed that I did not know.  ’That’s very feeble for a historian like you,’ he said, with a blink.  As a matter of fact, he could not think of all the names himself; he knew of about four.[4]

“The Colonel departed about 5 a.m.  I then came on duty as officer of the watch until breakfast.  The Germans were still shelling that spot near St. Jean—­some of the nose-caps returned as far back as Bilge Trench.  Sleep in the morning.  There was a heavy bombardment of our trench from 12.20 to 12.45; one or two casualties.  The padre called in to see us and had tea in our dug-out.  I had a little sleep before dinner, and was officer of the watch from 9 p.m. to 12 midnight.  While on duty, I supervised a working party, consisting of Sergeant Dawson and eleven B Company men, in Bilge Trench.  They were putting up camouflage.  Sergeant Dawson tells me that Sergeant Butterworth is wounded.  They have been having a hot time of it.

“July 6th.

“At 12 I had another sleep until 4 a.m., when I became officer of the watch again.  There was a good deal of aircraft about.  One aeroplane, despite the fact that shrapnel was fired at it every time, was very persevering in returning over and over again.  I felt horribly sleepy all the time.  At 7.30 Sergeant-Major Stanton took over duty again.  So I had my breakfast.  Then I had another sleep.  At midday I was awakened hearing great excitement occasioned by an air scrap overhead.  Four were brought down.  I felt too cosy to trouble to get up and look!  Up at 12.45.  One or two whizz-bangs landed uncomfortably near while I was shaving.  At 2 p.m. there was another air scrap overhead.  We watched it through our glasses.  We saw one of our aeroplanes cut off and brought down into the Boche lines completely smashed.  Then one of the German aeroplanes was brought down.  There has been considerable aerial activity all day.

“July 7th.

“On patrol with Beesley at night (July 6-7).  We left our own trench soon after 10 p.m. and filed up the communication trench and out into no man’s land.  The moon was shining brightly and a good deal of country was visible in its silvery light.  We got our patrol stationed along the line of a hedge, facing the German front line.  Then we crouched along to the left to get into touch with a patrol sent out by the Cheshires on our left.  It was a strange sensation creeping along no man’s land, grasping our revolvers, and anxiously peering into every hedge or bush or tuft of grass or ruined cottage (such as Argyle Farm and Lytham Cot) wondering whether