pits of that hell
which had been invented by human beings out of the earth's chemistry,
and yet had kept their reason.

The enemy's bombardment began suddenly, with one great crash of guns, at
half past eight on Friday morning. Generals Mercer and Williams had gone
up to inspect the trenches at six o'clock in the morning.

It had been almost silent along the lines when the enemy's batteries
opened fire with one enormous thunderstroke, which was followed by
continuous salvos. The shells came from nearly every point of the
compass--north, east, and south. The evil spell of the salient was over
our men again.

In the trenches just south of Hooge were the Princess Patricia's Light
Infantry, with some battalions of the Royal Canadian Regiment south
of them, and some of the Canadian Mounted Rifles (who had long
been dismounted), and units from another Canadian division (at said
Intelligence) and the British, stronger than they had ever been, in men,
and guns, and shells, and aircraft, and all material of war, were going
to be launched in a great offensive. No more trench warfare. No
more dying in ditches. Out into the open, with an Army of Pursuit
(Rawlinson's) and a quick break-through. It was to be "The Great Push."
The last battles were to be fought before the year died again, though
many men would die before that time.

Up in the salient something happened to make men question the weakness
of the enemy, but the news did not spread very far and there was a lot
to do elsewhere, on the Somme, where the salient seemed a long way off.
It was the Canadians to whom it happened, and it was an ugly thing.

On June 2nd a flame of fire from many batteries opened upon their
lines in Sanctuary Wood and Maple Copse, beyond the lines of Ypres, and
tragedy befell them. I went to see those who lived through it and stood
in the presence of men who had escaped from the very pits of that hell
which had been invented by human beings out of the earth's chemistry,
and yet had kept their reason.

The enemy's bombardment began suddenly, with one great crash of guns, at
half past eight on Friday morning. Generals Mercer and Williams had gone
up to inspect the trenches at six o'clock in the morning.

It had been almost silent along the lines when the enemy's batteries
opened fire with one enormous thunderstroke, which was followed by
continuous salvos. The shells came from nearly every point of the
compass--north, east, and south. The evil