rth. It is impossible to describe the sound, the earth shook
with it, and it was like a thousand thunderclaps, continually rolling,
and for miles along the enemy's trenches a sheet of flame was dropping
as our liquid-fire shells fell in a ceaseless rain. For awhile the
Germans shot their S.O.S. flares, but these soon died down.

The German artillery was slow in retaliation, and before they got
properly started our first brigade had taken the first line of
trenches, and our fifth brigade was over the top of them and pressing
forward. They followed our barrage as it advanced so many yards at a
time, destroying all opposition. Soon the 4th and 5th Brigades had
attained their objectives with few casualties and our officer told us
to get ready, so the "Iron Sixth" started to move. When the first
three battalions had gone, the 27th went over, and we jumped out,
shouldering our guns and advancing in file. We hadn't gone more than a
couple of hundred yards when gas shells began to come. On went our
masks, but hardly in time--we got a couple of whiffs. Two of the boys
had to go back to the dressing-station, but the rest of us had to go
on. We were feeling mighty sick but when we got to where the air was
clear, we took off our gas helmets and we felt a little better. We
soon forgot our ills in the excitement of the charge, as we went on
over what had been the German front line, but now was manned by our
men. The pioneers were already pushing forward a light railway, and
our aeroplanes were fighting overhead. By the way, the Royal Naval
triplanes had been sent over 'specially for this work, and they did
great execution among the enemy planes. We pressed on till we caught
up with our barrage. The German shell fire was very erratic, the guns
seemed to be firing anywhere; on our right and left stretched long
lines of smoke as the British advanced, but our flanks were not coming
up fast enough, and we had to wait; meanwhile our barrage played on a
wide belt of barbed wire that was just in front of us. Some of our men
got too close to the barrage and were hit by our own shells.

At last the barrage lifted, and the 27th and 28th went through the belt
of wire, cutting with the attachments on their rifles, any strands that
our artillery had failed to sever. A machine gun commenced firing at
us, so down our crew went into a shell hole and up went our gun and a
few rounds silenced that machine gun; then forward again with th