00 rounds. In this attack, our infantry
broke through the formidable Kriemhilde Stellung, taking Hill 288 by
noon. During the succeeding days the battery fired constantly. On the
16th the infantry captured the Cote de Chatillon in a whirlwind attack,
taking also Musard Farm.

The enemy sent plenty in return at the same time. We had forewarning of
this the day we arrived, when the field in front of us was full of
smoking holes. The constant procession of guns and wagon trains up the
road on our right drew fire. So did the 155mm. rifles that thundered and
blazed on the other side of the road. So did the exposed horse-lines of
the batteries in the trees ahead of us. At first an occasional shower of
earth was all that disturbed us. A few days later the enemy dumped a few
"ash-cans" or "freight-cars," as they were picturesquely called, not
many hundreds of yards from us. These, with a thunderous, ear-splitting
crash, sent huge black geysers of earth and smoke, scattering fragments
far and wide. Then came a mysterious missile that seemed to explode
twice, and burst near us almost as soon as we had heard its warning
scream. One of these, striking a box of fuses in Battery F, caused
considerable unrest. Next the batteries ahead were the target for so
much shelling that they and their horse-lines moved out. Our relief was
shortlived. On the morning of October 20 while the men were still asleep
beneath their pup tents, in shelter holes approximately two feet deep,
big shells began to drop along the muddy trail that ran from the
highroad to our position. The fragments that cut camouflage ropes and
pierced fuse-boxes were forgotten when it was learned that two shells
had struck amidst us squarely, both fortunately "duds". One buried
itself in the ground alongside the trail of the second piece. The other,
piercing a pup tent in the fourth section, scorched its way through
Becker's blankets, and disappeared into the earth, leaving him benumbed
in the foot which the shell had so narrowly missed and much confused in
the head as to what might happen next. All morning the boys could only
gaze at the hole in the ground and talk about E battery's horseshoe.

That afternoon, the battery moved back about 300 yards, enough to escape
the enemy's shells if his aeroplanes had discovered our old position, to
which the morning's greeting lent belief.

At this time Lieutenant Waters, returned from Battery B, was in command,
having succeeded Capta