as quiet as he could. And then I watched his breathing. It was
clear after a minute or two that, if he had had a breath of gas at all,
it was only of the slightest. But, when I told him this, he was very
unwilling to believe me. Another man was hit just outside, and lay on
the ground screaming like an animal in pain. Him, too, we carried into
the Command Post, and, later, on a stretcher to the dressing station.

Meanwhile all the telephone lines had gone owing to the shelling,
cutting us off from Brigade, other Batteries and O.P.'s. But
intermittent communication was maintained by runners, and signallers
were out, hour after hour, mending breaks in the line and showing their
invariable gallantry. Till about six o'clock our orders were to lie
low, to keep under cover and not to open fire. The rain of shells
continued without slackening. We were wonderfully lucky to get off as
lightly as we did. It is one of the most extraordinary phenomena of war,
how many shells can fall in a position of no great size, and yet do very
little damage. It was estimated, and I think quite soberly, that at
least two thousand rounds were pumped into our Battery position that
morning.

It was soon after six that we got orders, passed along from the next
Battery up the road, to open fire on our "counter-preparation target."
This was a sign that the advance of the Austrian Infantry had either
begun, or was thought to be imminent. They attacked, in fact, about a
quarter to seven on our sector. Their synchronising was faulty, as
between the different sectors attacked. Some went forward earlier and
others later than had been intended. They were all newly equipped and
were carrying full packs and blankets on their backs. They had been told
by their officers that this was to be the last great offensive of the
war, that they were going to drive us headlong down the mountain side,
that after two days they would be in Verona, and after ten days in Rome.
They were not told that they had British troops in front of them. They
came forward bravely and with great determination, in five successive
waves.

On the British left Divisional Front, to the west of us, they gained a
large initial success, and pushed us back well behind our first line of
guns. Here for some time the situation looked serious. But next day
strong counter-attacks by British and Italian troops restored the line,
our lost guns were retaken and the retreating Austrians suffered great
sl