d only be held
at great sacrifice, and by determined hand-to-hand fighting. The Boche
outnumbered us by at least four to one, and French help had not yet
arrived in sufficient strength. I walked behind two rows of French and
British infantry, lying ready in shallow newly-dug trenches. They
looked grave and thoughtful; some of them had removed their tunics. I
remember noting that of four hundred men I passed not one was talking
to his neighbour. I remember noticing a few horses waiting behind, and
motor-cyclist messengers hurriedly arriving and hurriedly departing. I
remember most of all the mournful, desolate howling of a dog, tied up
to one of the now deserted huts--the poor friendly French pointer who
the day before had snuggled his nose into my hand. Near the hedge
leading to the hut where I should find the colonel stood a group of
infantry officers. One of them, a tall lieutenant-colonel, I recognised
as Colonel ---- who had dined with us in our mess in the quarry a few
nights before the offensive started. His head was heavily bandaged. I
learned some days afterwards that he had been wounded while leading a
company of his battalion in a counter-attack; and that not long after I
passed him that morning in the wood he reorganised and exhorted his
men, facing terrific rifle and machine-gun fire--and indeed showed such
glorious and inspiring courage that he gained the Victoria Cross.

1 P.M.: The mounted orderlies had delivered orders to the batteries to
retire, and D Battery was already trekking along the road the other
side of Villequier Aumont. Machine-gun fire in the wood we had left was
hotter than ever. And the German guns were moving up, as could be told
when long-range efforts began to be made on the villages behind
Villequier Aumont. Half a dozen high-velocity shells struck the road we
had traversed, one of them knocking out a Horse Artillery waggon and
three horses. Two other horses had to be shot, and the sixth bolted.
From the markings on a good horse that I found tied to our own lines
later in the day, I concluded that the runaway had strayed in our
direction; and in the matter of strayed horses--good horses, that
is--the sergeant-major always worked on the principle, "It's all in the
same firm." At any rate, we had a valuable spare horse for the trying
march that followed.

2.30 P.M.: The colonel had selected the new positions for the
batteries, and two of them were already in. While we waited the arrival