n the Plateau. None the less, the value of a successful
offensive here was recognised to be so great, that it was several times
on the point of being attempted in the months that followed. But it did
not finally come, until events elsewhere had prepared the way and sapped
the enemy's power of resistance.

This, however, is anticipating history. In March, when we first arrived,
we moved into a Battery position in the pine woods behind the rear slope
of the southern ridge. Our right hand gun was only a hundred yards from
the cross-roads at Pria dell' Acqua, disagreeably close, as we
afterwards discovered. For the enemy had those cross-roads "absolutely
taped," as the expression went. In other respects the Battery position
was a good one. Being an old Italian position, it had gun pits already
blasted in the rock, though they were not quite suited to our guns and
line of fire, and we had to do some more blasting for ourselves. In the
course of this, a premature explosion occurred, wounding one of our
gunners so severely that he lost one leg and the sight of both his eyes
and a few days later, perhaps fortunately, died of other injuries. He
was a Cornishman, very young and very popular with every one in the
Battery. We missed him greatly. In this same accident Winterton was also
injured, and nearly lost an eye. He went to Hospital and thence to
England, and saw no more of the war, for the sight of his eye came back
to him but slowly.

The Italians had also blasted some good _caverne_ in the position, and
these we gradually enlarged and multiplied, till we had cover for the
whole Battery. Being on the side of a hill, and our guns not constructed
to fire at a greater elevation than forty-five degrees (the Italians had
fired at "super-elevations" up to eighty), we had to cut down many trees
in front of the guns. But this clearance hardly showed in aeroplane
photographs, as there were already many bare patches in the woods. We
had perfect flash-cover behind the ridge and were, indeed, quite
invisible, when the guns were camouflaged, even to an aeroplane flying
low and immediately overhead. From our position we could shoot, if
necessary, right over the top of the northern ridge, on the other side
of the Plateau. And this was good enough for most purposes.

We prepared another position, which was known as the "Forward" or
"Battle Position," at San Sisto, about four hundred yards behind the
front line. This position we never occu