Headquarters, which were on it. The line ran over the top of this high
ground, which was the meeting place of the old winter trenches (numbered
46 to 50) on the right, and, on the left the new trenches "A," "B,"
etc., built for our retirement during the 2nd Battle. The 5th Division
held the old trenches, we relieved the Sherwood Foresters in the new
"A1" to "A8," with three companies in the line and only one in support.
The last was near Battalion Headquarters, called Uppingham in Colonel
Jones' honour, which were in a bank about 200 yards behind the front
line. Some of the dug-outs were actually in the bank, but the most
extraordinary erection of all was the mess, a single sandbag thick
house, built entirely above ground, and standing by itself, unprotected
by any bank or fold in the ground, absolutely incapable, of course, of
protecting its occupants from even an anti-aircraft "dud."

We soon discovered during our first tour the difference between the
Salient and other sectors of the line, for, whereas at Kemmel we were
rarely shelled more than once a day, and then only with a few small
shells, now scarcely three hours went by without some part of the
Battalion's front being bombarded, usually with whizz-bangs. The Ypres
whizz-bang, too, was a thing one could not despise. The country round
Klein Zillebeke was very close, and the Boche was able to keep his
batteries only a few hundred yards behind his front line, with the
result that the "Bang" generally arrived before the whizz. "A6" and "A7"
suffered most, and on the 1st July Captain T.C.P. Beasley, commanding
"C" Company, and Lieut. A.P. Marsh, of "B" Company, were both wounded,
and had to be sent away to Hospital some hours later. The same night we
gave up these undesirable trenches, together with "A5" and "A8" to the
4th Battalion, and took instead "49," "50" and the Support "51" from the
Cheshires of the 5th Division. These trenches were about 200 yards from
the enemy except at the junction of "49" and "50," where a small salient