d
that a good lunch or dinner was served by the Nuns at the convent to
weary officers. They also let you use the convent baths. On April 20
we held a battalion dinner there in commemoration of the Battle of St.
Julien.

On Good Friday we had an Easter service, as we were to be in the
trenches again on Easter Day. Our padre was Capt. Rev. J.O. Aglionby,
C.F., whom we came to know and like very well. The bombers had a day's
training at Bruloose, and we were asked to bring our steel helmets,
which had just been issued. So I wore mine for the first time. After
the practice was over, I was asked to come and see the Brigade Bombing
Officer fire off some Mills rifle-grenades, which were a novelty then.
Whilst this was going on a grenade burst prematurely soon after
leaving the rifle, and a piece came back and struck my helmet, cutting
the lining and scratching the metal. After that I would never part
with that helmet, though newer ones were issued later on. Our last
visit to the trenches was to be shorter, and we were to be relieved by
the 3rd Division in three days. We set off on Saturday, April 22, and
arrived in the C.T. all right, for the Germans seldom shelled the
roads in this area. But when we got there we found things rather
lively. A shell killed two or three men of D Company as they were
approaching K.1.a; and Capt. Liddell and I had a splinter from another
shell between us as we passed up Rossignol C.T. On arriving I got a
message from the Adjutant saying, 'The G.O.C. orders that you use the
greatest vigilance by day and by night.' The next day, Easter Day, the
enemy shelled the trenches all day. Capt. G.F. Ball and I had an
unpleasant experience in K.1.a, after lunch. For nearly two hours a
howitzer battery shelled the place slowly and methodically, working up
and down the little trench. Many times dirt and rubbish came flying
into our shelter, but the only direct hit was on a minor structure
which of course disappeared. Next day our cook-house was blown in and
the crockery all smashed, but fortunately it was empty of men at the
time. In these trenches it was difficult to get artillery retaliation,
for the fighting at St. Eloi swallowed up most of the spare
ammunition, and the allowance of shells for the batteries was small;
so the enemy had a free hand in shelling our defences. Early on the
Monday morning the enemy fired a shallow mine between his trenches and
our own. It was a method of gaining ground, for the c