killed and ten wounded each tour, mostly from snipers and stray bullets,
for we did not come into actual conflict with the enemy at all. Amongst
the wounded was C.S.M. J. Kernick, of "B" Company, whose place was taken
by H.G. Lovett. This company also lost Serjt. Nadin, who was killed a
few weeks later.

Although we fought no pitched battles, the month included several little
excitements of a minor sort, both in trenches and when out at rest. The
first of these was the appearance of a Zeppelin over Dranoutre, where we
were billeted. Fortunately only one bomb dropped anywhere near us, and
this did no damage; the rest were all aimed at Bailleul and its
aerodromes. We all turned out of bed, and stood in the streets to look
at it, while many sentries blazed away with their rifles, forgetting
that it was many hundred feet beyond the range of any rifle.

By the middle of April the Staff began to expect a possible German
attack, and we "stood to" all night the 15/16th, having been warned that
it would be made on our front and that asphyxiating gases would be
used--we had, of course, no respirators. Two nights later the 5th
Division attacked Hill 60, and for four hours and a quarter, from 4 p.m.
to 8-15 p.m., we fired our rifles, three rounds a minute, with sights at
2,500 yards and rifles set on a bearing of 59°, in order to harass the
enemy's back areas behind the Hill--a task which later was always given
to the machine gunners. In those days it was a rare thing to hear a
machine gun at all, and ours scarcely ever fired. A week afterwards,
when out at rest, we heard that the second battle of Ypres had begun,
and learnt with horror and disgust of the famous first gas attack and
its ghastly results. Within a few days the first primitive respirators
arrived and were issued; they were nothing but a pad of wool and some
gauze, and would have been little use; fortunately we did not know this,