trench alongside the track. All that night, the next day, Bank Holiday,
and the following night, we worked till we could hardly hold our
shovels, and by the time we stopped, at dawn on the 3rd, there was a
trench the whole way--not very deep in places and not perhaps very
scientifically dug, but still enough to give cover. As soon as work was
over we returned to the copse and slept, for at dusk that night we were
to go once more to the line and relieve the Lincolnshires in "50" to
"A7." Maple Copse had cost us altogether 35 killed and wounded.

We found the trenches very much as we had left them except that "A1" had
been battered into an almost unrecognizable condition by the enemy's
latest trench weapon, the heavy Minenwerfer. Unlike the "Rum Jar" or
"Cannister," which was a home-made article consisting of any old tin
filled with explosive, this new bomb was shaped like a shell, fitted
with a copper driving band and fired from a rifled mortar. It weighed
over 200 lbs., was either two feet two inches or three feet six inches
long and nine inches in diameter, and produced on exploding a crater as
big as a small mine. It could fortunately be seen in the air, and the
position of the mortar was roughly known, so we posted a sentry whose
duty was to listen for the report of discharge, sight the bomb, and cry
at the top of his voice "Sausage left" or "Sausage right." Our Artillery
had tried hard to destroy the mortar, but it apparently had a small
railway to itself, and moved away as soon as we opened fire. For
retaliation we had nothing except rifle grenades, which were like
flea-bites to an elephant, or the Howitzers, who had to be called on the
telephone, all of which took time.

The rest of the line was fairly quiet except for a few small "sausages"
on trench "50," and our chief concern was now the shortage of men. In
those days a trench was not considered adequately garrisoned unless