the enemy. The Battalion with its sister regiments in the Brigade was to
succeed where others had failed.

The Battalion held the shell crater position from the evening of the 18th,
and it was obvious that the enemy expected an attack as he searched the
whole area with heavy artillery fire at dawn on the 19th.

The two remaining companies moved up after nightfall on the 19th. It
commenced to rain and the difficulties of placing the men in their proper
places were great. The night was black and there was nothing by which one
could locate oneself. After several hours a tape was placed along the line
of shell craters to serve as a jumping off mark along which the men were
duly aligned.

The _rôle_ of the Battalion was to capture Hill 35 and Gallipoli, which
was a strongly fortified centre of resistance in such a position, situated
on rising ground, that it commanded a large area to the north. After its
capture other units in the Brigade were to pass through the Battalion and
continue the attack. The distance of the attack by the Battalion was from
four to five hundred yards, and it was to be made in four waves, a company
to each wave. It was anticipated that though the position might be fairly
easily captured the enemy would make a desperate effort to dislodge the
attackers.

The attack was evidently anticipated, as the enemy shell fire for a few
minutes before zero was particularly heavy. Meanwhile the British
artillery maintained a silence in which the gunners were able to prepare
for the impending barrage. Zero was at 5-40 a.m., and at that time
suddenly there opened an enormous crescendo of fire from the British guns,
together with a machine gun barrage, which latter some attributed