iously supplied
from behind San Marco. A few days later we lost the top of San Gabriele,
and the attack upon it was not renewed.

Then followed quiet times, except for activity by Austrian Trench
Mortars against our trenches on Hill 126. We established direct
telephonic communication from the Battery to the Infantry Brigade
Headquarters in order to provide rapid retaliation, and we made several
Reconnaissances to try to locate Trench Mortars in the tangle of broken
ground through which the enemy line ran.

On the 17th we were warned to be ready to move at short notice to the
neighbourhood of Monfalcone, for a big push against the Hermada in three
weeks' time. Battery positions were chosen, but we never went. Instead a
rumour began to spread that all British Batteries were leaving Italy and
going East. It was said that the War Office had the wind up about the
Turks. An international tug of war was going on behind the scenes. On
the afternoon of the 28th we were told on high authority that our
movements were still undecided, but the Battery was inspected that day
by General Capello, the victor of Bainsizza, who looked like an Eastern
potentate, and was heard to say that he wanted as many British Batteries
as he could get, to increase the gun power of the Second Army. That
evening, however, our fate was said to be unofficially decided. We, with
the rest of Raven's Group, five Batteries in all, were to stay in Italy,
the other two Groups were to go away. It was not till the 3rd of October
that we received definite orders on the subject. The other Groups went
to Egypt and a couple of Batteries, after three months of doing nothing
in Cairo, came back to Italy again. They had at any rate found a little
employment for some of our surplus shipping and they had missed some
queer experiences in Italy meantime.

It was also announced that we were not moving down to Monfalcone, but
were probably remaining in our present positions for the winter. We
therefore began systematically to prepare winter quarters. The Italian
Corps Commander in a special Order of the Day expressed his satisfaction
that our Group was remaining under his command.

* * * * *

On the 5th I got up at four o'clock in the morning and carried out a
Front Line Reconnaissance with Sergeant Cotes, the No. 1 of my gun, and
Avoglia, an Italian Sergeant Major attached to our Battery, rather a
sleek person, who had been a _maitre-d'hote