parade moderately strong, and Gen. Kemp was well satisfied with our
"turn-out." It was, however, to be regretted that the only soldier to
whom he spoke happened to be a blacksmith, for which trade we had the
previous day sent to Brigade Headquarters a "nil" return. The cricket
match was a great success, and thanks to some excellent batting by
Lieut. Langdale, we came away victorious. The light training which we
carried out each day now included a very considerable amount of bomb
throwing, and it seemed as though the bomb was to be made the chief
weapon of the infantry soldier, instead of the rifle and bayonet, which
always has been, and always will be, a far better weapon than any bomb.
However, the new act had to be learnt, and a Battalion bomb squad was
soon formed under 2nd Lieut. R. Ward Jackson, whose chief assistants
were L/Cpl. R.H. Goodman, Ptes. W.H. Hallam, P. Bowler, E.M. Hewson, A.
Archer, F. Whitbread, J.W. Percival and others, many of whom afterwards
became N.C.O.'s. Every officer and man had to throw a live grenade, and,
as there were eight or nine different kinds, he also had to have some
mechanical knowledge, while the instructor had to know considerably more
about explosives than a sapper.

The excitement of our next tour started before we reached Kruisstraat.
All day long (the 28th August) a single 9.2" Howitzer had been firing
behind a farm house on the track to the Indian Transport Field, and, as
we marched past the position by platoons, all of us interested in
watching the loading process, it suddenly blew up, sending breach-block,
sheets of cast iron and enormous fragments of base plate and carriage
several hundred yards through the air. We ran at once to the nearest
cover, but three men were hit by falling fragments, and we were lucky
not to lose more, for several of us, including 2nd Lieut. J.W. Tomson,
had narrow escapes. We eventually reached the line, and relieved the
Lincolnshires in Trenches "49" to "A3." The 3rd Division had now taken