hey were picked troops, and a night attack is, of
course, one of the most difficult of all to carry out successfully.

The observers were instructed to remain at their quarters in Beauvois,
and for the next eleven days training was resumed. I was told that
great advantages might be obtained from panoramic sketches, if rapidly
and accurately drawn by the observers. And so I directed most of the
training here towards making these sketches. There was nothing in
training that the men liked better than that.

During our rest at Beauvois the New Zealanders had pushed the Germans
farther back, to the outskirts of Le Quesnoy, and towards the end of
October we were warned that the 42nd Division would relieve them after
a further attack.

XXXVII

THE FINAL RUSH FORWARD

On November 3 I moved with the observers to the village of Viesly and
got a billet in a cottage. The village had been badly mauled by the
German guns during the recent fighting. The German does not behave
nicely when his nerves are shaken, and we heard stories of
ill-treatment of women in Solesmes.

Next day we went towards Romeries to reconnoitre the roads, and on
November 5 we had a long march in the rain. Hitherto we had been lucky
to have fine weather for trekking, but now it began to rain almost
every day. We went on over crowded roads through Briastre, Solesmes,
Romeries, and Beaudignies. At the latter place our heavy guns were
still firing, for the Germans had only been pushed out of Le Quesnoy
that morning, and their main body was retreating through the Mormal
Forest. Our advance party, L.-C. Cowen and Pte. Addinall, who had gone
forward on bicycles to find a billet in Le Quesnoy, met with a very
warm reception from the French civilians in the town. After a little
trouble I managed to get possession of a nice empty house near the
railway station, where we were glad to turn in and get our clothes
dry. Next day I went to D.H.Q. at Potelle, a moated farm or chateau.

There was some idea of disbanding the observers at this time, for
Capt. Kirsopp found difficulty in getting us forward fast enough to be
of any use. However the G.O.C. would not hear of it, and said the
D.A.Q.M.G. must arrange to transport our things.

The same day I went forward to the advanced B.H.Q. at Forester's
Point, on the N.W. side of the forest, east of Carnoy. And I arranged
with the Brigade-Major of the 126th Infantry Brigade to send some of
the observers to help him