FOOTNOTES:

[1] Ploegsteert.




'OVER THE TOP.'

[Illustration]


From the time of our arrival in France until a week or two prior to
the battle of Messines, general dissatisfaction was expressed by the
troops because of the seeming slow progress that was being made. The
men soon tired of the uneventful trench warfare. They were eager to go
'over the top.' Defensive operations did not appeal to them; they were
impatient to assume the offensive. To put it in their own language,
they had enlisted not to dig trenches or repair roads, but to fight
the Hun. Certainly the monotony was relieved by an occasional raid,
for which work they earned for the Division a splendid reputation.
The area which the Division occupied was known throughout France as
the 'Nursery,' where men, new to the modern mode of waging war, had
opportunity for gaining experience and getting accustomed to shell and
machine-gun fire under comparatively safe conditions.

During this period of 'marking time' the men were engaged both day and
night on works of importance, without which an offensive would have
meant sheer suicide. The elaborate preparations that were being made
denoted that a big 'push' was contemplated. In connexion with this