The French machines all carried small searchlights, and, in addition to
these, the sky was light up with the larger searchlights from below,
while the efforts of the Boche to avoid the lights, and the French to
catch their opponents, produced some wonderful air-manoeuvering, which
ended in the retirement of the Boche. As soon as they had gone, our
train went on, and we reached Pont Remy station outside Abbeville at
8-30 a.m. on the 30th--back once more in rain, snow, and mud.

We marched at once to Yaucourt Bussus, a small village with comfortable
billets, which we occupied for nearly a fortnight, spending our time
training and playing football. Meanwhile, as the Brigadier and the two
Lincolnshire Battalions had not yet returned from Egypt, Col. Jones,
taking with him 2nd Lieut. Williams as Staff Officer, went to command
the half Brigade and lived with Captain Burnett at Ailly le haut
Clocher, another small village, to which the Brigadier came on his
return on the 11th. While the Colonel was away, Major Toller took
command and Major T.C.P. Beasley acted as 2nd in Command. For the time
no one seemed to have the slightest idea what was going to happen to the
Division next.

On the 10th we marched to Gorenflos, and the following day were taken by
lorries to billets in Candas, where, with an East wind, we could
occasionally hear the distant sounds of gunfire for the first time for
two months. Our new area we found was full of preparation for something;
what the exact nature of this something might be we did not know.
Several large railways and dumps were being built, new roads made, and
here and there with great secrecy big concrete gun platforms were laid.
Each day we sent large numbers to work, mostly on the railways, and once
more we heard the words "Big Push." We were always living on the verge
of the Big Push, and many times in 1915 had thought that it had