was impossible to visit the posts outside the line.
The right company, however, was not so simple. There was considerable
doubt as to what ground was held in the neighbourhood of Moeuvres. There
had been continual scrapping. One night we pushed out a new post near
the cemetery, and the next night the enemy drove it in again. It was a
very nasty spot, and it so happened that we had called on the day that
it was our turn to do the pushing, and the Munsters were very busy
making arrangements for the discomfiture of the enemy.

For these reasons it was impossible to find out the dispositions of that
company, and we had to return home with the promise that the situation
would be cleared up before we arrived, and all would be well.

Before we actually went up to the line, we were informed that there was
to be a slight alteration of battalion and brigade boundaries. The
dispositions of our battalion were "D" Company on the right, "C" in the
centre, "B" on the left, and "A" in support. When we did reach the line
to take over on the night of 16th, the redistribution of boundaries cut
out "D" Company's bit of the line altogether, so that they came in as a
second support company, and incidentally they were in the other
brigade's area, as they could not find accommodation in our own sector.

"B" Company were all outside the main trench, and were disposed with two
posts in front and a support with their headquarters in No-Man's Land.
There was no wire on the enemy's side of our position, though there was
a perfect labyrinth of very heavy wire behind us.

"C" Company, which was only thirty-five strong at this time, had their
headquarters in a deep dug-out in the line of resistance, along with a
very small support. The remainder of the company was occupying two
posts, one about 500 yards up a trench which ran straight towards the
enemy, and in which the enemy had a post just over the road beyond ours:
the other was about 250 yards to the right of this, on the far side of
the road and absolutely in the open. This was the post which was held by
Corporal Hunter and six men, and it was merely a small pit dug in the
ground.

"D" Company for that night were housed in a deep dug-out in the main
support line, with their headquarters in a concrete faced shelter in the
back wall of the trench, excellently sited if we had been fighting the
other way, but well-known to the enemy, and getting hit by about three
out of every five shells aimed a