the trenches from which the 16th Battalion was going to
lead the charge.

CHAPTER XXX. (p. 274)

THE BATTLE OF AMIENS.

_August 8th to 16th, 1918._

It was strange and exhilarating to go off on an expedition of that
kind in the cool air and fading light of the evening. Something told
us that at last the hour of victory was drawing near. The moving of
the Corps had been so splendidly conducted and the preparation had
been so secret that success seemed assured. This was an achievement
which was completely different from all our past experience. The only
question was, had we taken the Germans by surprise, or were they
waiting with massed forces to resist our attack? As I left the outskirts
of the wood behind me, and made my way over the green plain, now
fading into the twilight, I passed a battalion of the 3rd Division
manning a line of trenches. I had a talk with some of the men and told
them that I had heard from a tank officer that nearly one thousand
tanks were to be engaged in the attack on the following morning. Far
over to the left, on a rise in the ground I saw the remains of a
village, and was told that a mud road across the fields would lead me
in the direction of the 1st Division front. I met as usual many men
whom I knew, and finally some officers of the 15th Battalion in a
dugout. The light began to fade and I had difficulty in seeing far
ahead of me, but the track at last brought me to a sunken road which
turned to the right. Here on the hillside more men were waiting in
dugouts, and I was directed to a quarry, on the top of which I was to
take a path that would lead me to a group of trees, where I should
find the Headquarters of the 16th Battalion. When I got to the quarry
I found many roads there, and whether it was that the information I
had received was incorrect, or that I was more than usually stupid, I
do not know. I wandered up and down for a long time, tripping over
bits of wire and slipping into holes, before I was able to get to the
top of the hill and look over in the direction of the German lines. At
last I found a track which had evidently been used by men going up to
the front. I went along it for a considerable distance and found
myself on what appeared to be a plateau, but as far as I could see, no
object stood out against the starry sky-line. Shells were falling in
the fields to the left, and at different points on the easter