rd again to the attack. This time their
reception was no more encouraging than before; our artillery got into
them with a barrage and they withdrew. Now they sent up a red Verey
light signal, whereupon a hostile barrage came down upon our trenches,
under cover of which they not only withdrew themselves, but also removed
their killed and wounded. It is a part of their religion to spare no
pains in removing their dead and giving them a decent burial. A couple
of deserters crept into our lines towards the morning, from whom we were
able to gather something about their side of the operations. Desertion
was fairly common among the Turks about this time, partly because
rations were poor, but mainly because they had no stomach for the fight
that they knew to be imminent. In so far as this raid affected us, our
trenches were badly smashed by the artillery, but our casualties were
insignificant.

The next evening we sent a small patrol across No Man's Land, which,
being boldly and pluckily led, crept right up to the enemy's trenches.
Here they heard the sound of much traffic on the Gaza-Beersheba road,
token doubtless of the impending withdrawal. More important from our
immediate point of view, the patrol heard sounds of an enemy
concentration in their front trenches, in apparent preparation for
another raid on the Apex. Our artillery put salvoes at once upon those
trenches; and the raid of that night proved a damp squib. About midnight
we were wakened from our slumbers by a thunderstorm, the thunder,
lightning and hail being provided by a deluge of bursting shells,
splinters and shrapnel bullets. When the barrage lifted, glimpses were
caught of the enemy moving along our front wire; but this raid never
succeeded in forcing an entrance to our trenches.

We had every reason to "remember the fifth of November." It came in with
a display of fireworks; it went out like an inferno. Profiting by his
previous experience, the enemy shelled a portion of our front
deliberately from early evening until dark, with the obvious intention
of cutting the wire on a portion of our sector. At ten o'clock that
night, down came another intensive bombardment, which lasted for an
hour. Under cover of the darkness, the enemy even brought trench mortars
on camels up to our wire to assist in the bombardment. Next morning the
ground looked like a veritable sea beach after a wreck; the litter
consisted of splinters and duds of all sizes and descriptions,