oing to begin the service, a
voice suddenly shouted down the steps in excited tones. "We've all got
to retreat; the Germans are coming." At once a corporal shouted up to
him, "Shut up, none of that talk out here." Of course, I had not said
a word to any of the men about the condition of our front line, but
remembering what the Adjutant had told me about it, I thought now that
there might be some reason for the alarm. As I have said on a former
occasion, I had a great objection to being bombed in a dugout, so (p. 294)
I said to the men, "Well, boys, perhaps we had better take it seriously
and go up and see what the matter is." We climbed up to the trench,
and there on looking over the parapet we saw an exciting scene. It was
not yet dark, and in the twilight we could see objects at a certain
distance, but it was just light enough and dark enough to confuse
one's vision. Along the line to the right of our front trenches,
rockets and S.O.S. signals were going up, showing that the Germans
were attacking. Our reserve battalions were far back at Cherisy, and
our artillery had not yet come up. At any rate, somewhere in the
glimmering darkness in front of us the Germans were advancing. They
actually did get between us and our front line. The machine-gunners at
once went to their posts, and the M.O. wanted orders as to what he and
his staff were to do. I went back down the trenches past the dead
Germans to Battalion Headquarters, and asked the Adjutant what orders
he had for the M.O. He said we were all to congregate at Headquarters;
so I went back and gave the message. I remember looking over the waste
of ground and wondering if I could see the Germans. For a time it was
really very exciting, especially for me, because I did not know
exactly what I should do if the Germans came. I could not fight, nor
could I run away, and to fold one's arms and be taken captive seemed
too idiotic. All the time I kept saying to myself, "I am an old fool
to be out here." Still, we got as much fun out of the situation as we
could, and, to our intense relief, the arrival of some of our shells
and the sudden appearance of a Highland Battalion of the 4th Division
on our left, frightened the Germans and they retired, leaving us to
settle down once more in our trench home.

On the return of the Colonel, we learned that, on account of the heavy
losses which the 5th Battalion had suffered that day, the 7th Battalion
would attack on the following mornin