four inches, just in and out." His system has now been adopted
throughout the British Army, and all 1917 recruits were trained in it,
but to us it came none too soon, for we were fast forgetting that we
ever had such a weapon as a bayonet.

On the 20th May our work in the forest came to an end and, as the
Brigade was wanted for fatigues nearer the line, we moved by Pommera and
Pas to Souastre, a village about three miles from the front trenches.
The Sherwood Foresters were at present holding the Divisional front, and
our chief task in the new area was digging cable trenches from back
Headquarter positions to forward batteries and observation posts,
building and stocking ammunition and bomb stores, and assisting in the
construction of numerous gun pits. In fact, we were once more preparing
as fast as possible for a "big push," though at the moment it was not
quite certain who was going to do the pushing; rumour allotted this task
to the 46th Division. The work was very hard, for digging a deep narrow
trench, or loading flints at Warlincourt quarries are no light tasks,
and the weather made conditions even more difficult than they might
otherwise have been. One day it was so hot as to make continuous work
for more than a few hours impossible, while the next, there would be
three or four torrential rain storms, filling all the trenches, and
turning the cross-country tracks to avenues of mud.

However, in spite of our work, we managed to have some football, and the
Divisional Commander once more presented a cup. We started well, beating
the 5th Lincolnshires in the second round, but then found ourselves
opposed to our old rivals, the 4th Battalion, for the Brigade finals.
The game caused the keenest excitement, and with the score at two goals
all, the enthusiasm through the second half was immense. Unfortunately,
there is a fate against our defeating the 4th Battalion, and, just