re walking along a road. Could we not get our guns on
to them quickly? This seemed an incredible occurrence, as, in this
sector, not a single German had been seen for days on end. The mystery
was speedily solved, however. By some means or other, he had been
holding the periscope so that it faced the opposite direction, and
what he actually saw was a party of our own men walking leisurely
along the road some way behind our lines. Needless to say, this
officer came in for a considerable amount of chaff, and, in course of
time, was solemnly presented with a paper medal, suitably inscribed,
on which reversed periscopes figured prominently.

The festive season was now drawing near, which necessitated the
gathering of provisions, for the men were to celebrate the 25th of
December by having a special dinner, and presently leave was opened to
our unit and the first lucky ones departed for "Blighty." Some sort of
gift was due the enemy on this occasion, and it took the shape of a
sharp five minutes' bombardment, from every gun in the area, on the
stroke of midnight on Xmas Eve. In spite of this gruelling, the enemy
next morning showed signs of wishing to fraternise with our men in the
front line, but strict orders had been issued in advance that this was
not to be countenanced. The Germans showed themselves freely above the
parapet, and one could see that they had been dressed up smartly for
the occasion, probably in order to impress us with their appearance.
However, there was "nothing doing." Little or no sniping took place,
but the artillery went through their usual routine, in fact rather
increased their fire that day. The men's dinner was a great (p. 020)
success, and all seemed pleased with their fare--pork and potatoes,
vegetables, plum pudding and fruit, with plenty of beer or stout to
wash it down. The Officers' Mess was lively also, and our first 'Xmas,
under war conditions, was voted most successful. Next day the Padre
turned up, and a service was held in one of the barns, but, in the
middle of the address, on "Peace on earth, goodwill towards men,"
there was a sudden call for "action." A rush was made to the guns,
and, after a few minutes' argument with the enemy, we returned and
finished listening to the discourse. Somehow or other one could not
help feeling that the two happenings were incongruous!

We had a notion that perhaps the enemy would make an attempt to
retaliate on us at New Year for our little jo