The communication trench was about half a mile long, a zigzagging
ditch, eight feet deep and three feet wide.

Now and again, German shrapnel would whistle overhead and burst in our
vicinity. We would crouch against the earthen walls while the shell
fragments "slapped" the ground above us.

Once Fritz turned loose with a machine gun, the bullets from which
"cracked" through the air and kicked up the dirt on the top,
scattering sand and pebbles, which, hitting our steel helmets, sounded
like hailstones.

Upon arrival in the fire trench an officer of the Royal Engineers gave
us our instructions and acted as guide.

We were to dig an advanced trench two hundred yards from the Germans
(the trenches at this point were six hundred yards apart).

Two winding lanes, five feet wide, had been cut through our barbed
wire, for the passage of the diggers. From these lanes white tape had
been laid on the ground to the point where we were to commence work.
This in order that we would not get lost in the darkness. The proposed
trench was also laid out with tape.

The covering party went out first. After a short wait, two scouts came
back with information that the working party was to follow and "carry
on" with their work.


{Illustration: DIAGRAM ILLUSTRATING TYPICAL FIRE TRENCH, SECOND LINE,