maintained, but only after a ding-dong game which the battalion never
forgot.

The next day the Brigade marched forward and made camp at Gilban, about
3-1/2 miles N.E. of Hill 70. An indefinite stay was to be made here, and
defensive precautions were taken, a ring of posts being placed all round
the camp. It was soon found that the principal difficulty was that of
patrolling by night from post to post. On a desert such as this there
were no landmarks of any sort, and as a belt of wire such as we had been
used to at Hill 70 had not been placed between the posts it was by no
means easy to preserve the right direction. As we had reached a
scrub-covered desert, however, this difficulty was easily overcome by
making a sort of track from one post to the next by clearing away the
scrub, and using this to make a clear edge to the track. The battalion
was augmented about this time by drafts from home, and the following
officers rejoined after having been invalided to England in 1915: Lt.
Douglas Norbury, 2nd-Lt. Bryan and 2nd-Lt. L. G. Harris, while a week
previous Major Allan had been posted to us from the 8th Manchesters as
second in command.

In the army coming events often cast their shadow before them; and this
shadow frequently takes the form of a visit by the Higher Command to the
troops who are to go into action. Hence, when the Divisional Commander,
Major-General Sir W. Douglas, had the 127th Brigade paraded for him at
Gilban, and when he complimented Brigadier-General Ormsby upon the fine
turn out, we gathered that our long period of waiting for the Turk was
over. He told us to husband our water, and these words I am sure rang
through many an officer's head in the following days. The 42nd Division,
he said, were expected to make a great coup, and many prisoners were to
be taken. Two days later the preliminary rumbles of the Battle of