taff, who called for
volunteers to go out and make an investigation and report as to the
condition of the sights, etc. Our B.C. gallantly offered his services,
in spite of the fact that he was over six feet in height, and
presented a most conspicuous figure, and would not be deterred. He set
off crawling through the long grass on his perilous journey, and there
was a huge grin on his face when he returned. After his report went in
we ascertained that the two pieces were nothing more than cleverly
constructed dummies formed from cart wheels, telegraph poles and
trunks of trees, but it was not until he almost came up to them that
he made the discovery.

The detachments meanwhile had settled down, making improvements to
their billets and strengthening the gun pits, and were already proving
themselves seasoned warriors. On one occasion a nasty accident
happened, due to the explosion of a howitzer, caused, as was
afterwards proved, by a faulty shell. The complete gun crew, with the
exception of the No. 1 in charge, was wounded. Three of their number
were temporarily buried by the earth thrown up by the explosion, and
it was probably due to that fact that no one was killed. The pit
naturally fell to bits and the debris was indescribable, but the
Sergeant managed to disentangle himself, and, standing stiffly to
attention, reported to the officer on duty, "No. 2 gun out of action,
sir!" No time was lost in digging out the injured men, and it was only
found necessary to evacuate three of the number to the nearest
dressing station--the remainder flatly refusing to go. The layer, in
particular, deserved great credit for his grit, for, in spite of
having been buried, and having scarcely a hair left on his head and
devoid of eyebrows, not to mention the shock to his nervous system, he
was again serving his gun 24 hours later, on the arrival of the new
piece. Some idea of the force of the explosion can be gathered from
the fact that the barrel was found, in two pieces, some 150 yards
away, having been blown over a railway embankment, while the (p. 012)
breech block, which weighs about a cwt., was discovered, after a 12
hours' search, embedded in the ground six feet below the pit. At this
period a considerable number of "prematures" were taking place, and,
on one occasion, we ascribed this wounding of two gunners to this
cause, but afterwards found out our mistake. An S.O.S. went up after
dark, and, at the time of firing No. 3