rol was then sent
out but nothing was discovered. The Turks were remaining in their
trenches and the other company had gone home, so "A" Company also
returned after a most unsatisfactory night's work and fifteen
casualties, of which two were killed and four missing. Three of the
missing were accounted for in this way. Two stretcher bearers with one
stretcher case set off for our line, but unfortunately got confused at
the cross-roads and wandered into a wadi where they were captured. We
got word soon after from the bearers, by letter dropped from a Turkish
aeroplane, that they were safe, and after the Armistice we were glad to
hear that Pte. Brooks, the wounded man, had returned safe, if not sound,
as he had lost a leg.

There is an amusing incident which occurred at this time when the
Brigade held the Apex. An officer's patrol was sent out by another unit
one very dark night to reconnoitre the ground between the Apex and Tank
Redoubt. Having covered the ground they returned to their own lines,
where the officer sent the patrol in under a corporal and decided to go
out again with his sergeant to endeavour to get some information
regarding a particular part of the enemy's line. Off they went and after
having gone some distance were quite at a loss as to where they were.
They suddenly came up against some barbed wire and thinking that it
might be the Turkish lines decided to lie down and listen. Very soon
they heard voices talking in a language unmistakably eastern. They
distinguished such words as Achmed, Abdul, etc., and jumped to the
conclusion that they were within a few yards of the enemy. While they
were rapidly considering the best way of beating a hasty retreat they
were greatly relieved to hear the raucous voice of a sleepy Scot
exhorting the speakers in very fluent language to take the ration camels
away from his vicinity. In the darkness they had described a semi-circle
and returned to their own lines.

On the 24th the Battalion was relieved and went into Brigade reserve at
Tel el Ahmar, occupying the redoubts about two miles behind the front
line. By the beginning of September we were back in the Wadi Simeon
working on fatigues by night and day. After a fortnight of this, orders
came to rejoin the rest of the Brigade at Sheikh Nahkrur. This was a
bivouac area near to the tomb of some ancient holy man and almost within
the shadow of Tel el Jemmi, the huge circular earth-tower, which was the
most southerly out