sap head. At this point there were only seventy yards or so between the
British trench and the enemy sap heads, which were swathed in a dense mesh
of barbed wire. There were but few shell craters, little artillery fire
being directed on the front line when the lines were close owing to the
danger of short firing; and the grass being short there was little or no
cover. The night had been very quiet. Scarcely a rifle shot had broken the
silence. The patrol must have made some noise, and so aroused the
attention of the enemy sentry in the sap head who fired an illuminating
flare. The light betrayed the presence of the patrol to the enemy, who
opened fire and wounded both of the men. Afterwards the enemy kept firing
illuminating flares and maintained a lively rifle and machine gun fire, so
that any attempt at rescue was impossible. At dawn the enemy put up a flag
of truce and a party of them came out and gently lifted the wounded into
their own trench. It was noticed that the enemy were wearing the old blue
uniform of the German Army instead of the feldgrau uniform, and that they
carried tin canisters in which they had their gas masks. This rescue was
accomplished at great risk to the enemy as they did not know that the
British would refrain from firing; and the incident proves that at any
rate there were some among the Germans who would do the honourable thing.
When the Battalion was at Ypres about a year afterwards a letter came
saying that the graves of the two men had been found with an appropriate
inscription in the German language.

In this sector there was much work to be done. The trenches, which were in
a state of decay after the frosts and rains of the winter, had to be
duckboarded and revetted. Besides sandbagging the front line the
Battalion, in conjunction with the relieving unit, the 7th King's,
constructed a new support line known as Parallel B., in which was
accommodated, when it was complete, a portion of the front line garrison.
The wire needed attention as well. The French had covered the front with a