and the rest of the journey seemed more pleasant than usual.


THE SECOND BATTLE OF ARRAS.

A day's halt took place at Barly, where the surplus personnel was left
while the fighting men left for Bellacourt. The next day the Battalion
left and, passing _en route_ Ficheux and Blaireville, the villages in
front of which it had spent so many weary months in 1916, arrived at
Mercatel.

On the 27th August the Battalion proceeded, dressed in fighting order, to
the Hindenburg Line, _via_ Henin, and took over trenches in V. 7.c. On the
28th a warning order was received at 6 a.m. that the Battalion would
attack that day. Operation orders followed later. The two leading
companies were to assemble at Humber Redoubt and Mole Lane, and the other
two companies in the rear. The first objective assigned to the Battalion
was Hoop Lane and the second the village of Riencourt. Flanks were given
and zero was fixed for 12-30 p.m.

It was fortunate that a warning order had been given as otherwise the
companies would not have been in position in time. At 12-30 p.m. the
barrage came down and the men commenced to move forward. The going at
first was not easy, owing to the wire and numerous shell holes. Shortly
after zero the contact aeroplane unfortunately received a direct hit by a
shell and crashed to earth. Very heavy machine gun fire was directed
against the leading companies from Copse Trench, which brought about many
casualties. Fag Alley was reached and in its vicinity several machine guns
were captured, and the teams either killed or taken prisoners. From this
point to the first objective the resistance was not so strong, and on