it. A German
machine-gun was cracking away in the same trench to their right, firing
between them and the trench they had come from. There was barbed wire in
front of it. When they tried to force a way with bombs up the trench to
the gun, German bombers in craters behind the trench showered bombs on
to them. Then a sergeant crawled out between the wire and the
machine-gun--crawled on his stomach right up to the gun and shot the
gunner with his revolver. "I've killed three of them," he said, as he
crawled back. Presently a shell fell on him and shattered him. But our
bombers, like the Germans, crept out into craters behind the trench,
and bombed the German bombers out of their shelter. That opened the way
along the trench, and they found the three machine-gunners, shot as the
sergeant had said. The Tasmanians went swiftly along the trench after
that, and presently saw a row of good Australian heads in a sap well in
front of them. There went up a cheer. Other German guardsmen, who had
been lying in craters in front of the trench, and in a scrap of trench
beyond, heard the cheering; seeing that there were Australians on both
sides of them, they stumbled to their feet and threw up their hands.
They were marched off to the rear, and the Tasmanians joined up with the
Queenslanders.

So the centre was joined to the right. On the left it was uncertain
whether it was joined or not. There was a line of trench to be seen on
that side running back towards the German lines. It was merely a more
regular line of mud amongst the irregular mud-heaps of the craters; but
there were the heads of the men looking out from it--so clearly it was a
trench. As the light grew they could make out men leaning on their arms
and elbows, looking over the parapet. Every available glass was turned
on them, but it was too dark still to see if they were Australians. Two
scouts were sent forward, creeping from hole to hole. Both were shot. A
machine-gun was turned at once on to the line of heads. They started
hopping back down their tumbled sap towards the German rear. Clearly
they were Germans. The machine-gun made fast practice as the line of
backs showed behind the parapet.

There were Germans, not Australians, in the trenches on the Tasmanians'
left--in the same trench as they. The flank there was in the air. There
was nothing to do except to barricade the trench and hold the flank as
best they could.

And for the next two days they held it, shelle