ht after night, the
raiding party practised the assault. The most careful preparations
were entailed, with much planning and understanding of detail. Every
man had to know thoroughly his part. There had to be no hitch
anywhere. Lieut. Begg saw to it that the training was complete, and
given any luck, success was fully assured.

On the night of the 22nd of April, the party, with blackened hands and
faces, and equipped with an assortment of weapons worthy of Mexican
outlaws, presented themselves at the head of Thiepval Avenue, and
filed up to the "starting point" to await the report of the Patrol
under Lieut. MacRobert, who also had charge of the tape-laying party
which included Corporal Chapman. At 9.30 p.m. our artillery suddenly
opened on the enemy's salient, and poured down on it such a tornado of
steel as the Germans had never experienced before. For twenty minutes
our shells flayed the German front line, and under this arch of
shrieking explosives the battle party crawled right up to the rim of
the bombardment. What wire remained uncut was blown to fragments by a
torpedo, and when the barrage lifted and came down behind, the raiders
jumped into the enemy's trench and set to work. For twenty minutes
they bombed and destroyed, cleared dug-outs, pulled down machine guns,
barricaded communication trenches, and handed prisoners back to
escorts. Then on a signal they as quickly withdrew, and still under
cover of artillery fire made their own trench again. Thirteen
affrighted Germans, of two different units, accompanied the party;
and, finest of all, every man of the party returned. Eleven of them
were wounded, but only one seriously. Among those slightly wounded was
Lieut. Begg, who was the spirit of the assault.

As a result of this success many congratulatory messages were received
and several decorations awarded. Among the list of telegrams were the
following:--

From the G.O.C. 10th CORPS:--"Corps Commander congratulates the
17th H.L.I. on their successful enterprise, which reflects
great credit on all concerned."

From the G.O.C. 32nd DIVISION:--"I congratulate you. I was
confident that the 17th H.L.I. would do the trick. Convey this
message to them."

From Sir HENRY RAWLINSON, G.O.C. 4th ARMY:--"Please convey to 32nd
Division, and particularly to the 97th Brigade and 17th
Battalion Highland Light Infantry, my heartiest
congratulations on their successful raid la