aution necessary on roads that were
periodically shelled at night. After plodding along for some time we
reached the Cafe Belge, a mere ruin now, but a well-known halting
place for troops on the march. Here we turned off to the right and
left the pave road which runs on to Ypres, and after this the roads
were much more difficult to travel. Shell holes were frequent and
generally full of water, so that in the dark it was only too easy to
stumble into them. 'Shell-hole on the right,' 'Shell-hole on the
left,' 'Shell-hole in the middle,' 'Keep to your right' were being
passed back continually. Progress was slow of course under these
conditions and with the heavy loads that we all carried. But it was
all so novel to me that I had not a moment to feel dull or depressed.
After a time we reached the notorious 'Shrapnel Corner' and turned
towards 'Transport Farm,' for we were bound for trenches at Hill 60.
This place was of course famous for the British attack in 1915, and
for the German counter-attack with gas a little later on which was all
too successful. It was also notorious for being one of the hottest
corners of the British front. Owing to their vantage ground on the
hill the enemy had little difficulty in sniping and shelling our
trenches effectively.

[Illustration: Hill 60.--Official Map, March 1916.]

As we approached Transport Farm I came for the first time under
indirect rifle fire. A number of bullets fired at our trenches
carried over and landed not far from the roads at the back. Though
rather alarming in the dark to one unaccustomed to them, they seldom
did much damage. Occasionally a man or two got wounded during these
reliefs. Our company turned to the left again near Zillebeke railway
station, and then struck off the road and reached the mouth of a C.T.
which led after about a hundred yards to the support trenches.

A glance at the official plan of the trenches at Hill 60 will give
some idea of the extraordinary place it was. Whilst the German line
ran solid along the top of the ridge, there were two complete gaps in
the British fire trenches between Hill 60 and Mount Sorrel on the
left. On paper it looks as if there were nothing to stop the German
from walking across and behind our lines whenever he chose. But I
imagine that these empty spaces were covered by machine-gun posts, and
that the artillery were ready to deal with any attempt of that sort.
Another feature of the place was the awful nature of