hat he threw a couple of bombs at them and got
them, but a couple of their pals got Harris. We were sorry; for he was
really the most talked of man in the Battalion. Anyway, I had the
satisfaction of fixing his grave up.

[Illustration: Aeroplane map of the sector in which the
"Fighting 25th" were engaged at "Vimy Ridge."]

[Illustration: Aeroplane map of the sector in which the
"Fighting 25th" were engaged at "Vimy Ridge."]

When we took over these trenches everything was quiet in this section,
but it was not very long before the Canadians had livened things up.
Some days we would "strafe" him with trench mortars; on others we
would give him a touch of our artillery. Bill Cameron was aching to
get a go at him so he picked out eighty men and four officers. It was
decided to use the Bengalore torpedo to blow his wire up. The time
appointed was Xmas morning. When they went to put the torpedoes
underneath the wire they found it impossible as it was too bright, so
there was a consultation and it was decided to crawl out, lay
alongside of his wire and then make a dash into his trench as soon as
the artillery started which they did with great success, bringing back
about nine prisoners. Besides what they killed and the damage done,
the moral effect on the Hun was good.

That night the battalion on our right were going to pull off a raid.
They started in and Fritz must have thought we were going to pull off
another, so he just started in and shelled us like anything. He didn't
get any of us, but sure kept us ducking. I would put a chew of tobacco
in my mouth and go round and visit my men, shells landing all around
us. When they were coming through the air you would swear that they
were coming straight for you and that one had your number engraved on
it. Well, I would be as shaky as anybody could be, but I would not let
the others see it and the men were the same. We are all alike; we all
get a little funky in a bombardment but we will not admit it.

During our stay here Fritz bombarded the village with gas shells,
killing four or five civilians. He did not get one of the military.
Well, I suppose that is his way of waging war.

We were to be relieved by the 1st Division so that we could go out for
a rest and I was advised that on the 21st of February I was to go to a
cadet school in France to qualify for a commission.

It was also understood that before we went out for this rest that we
were to carry