with all thoroughness, as we knew that last night's cannonade would begin again with daylight: we practically had to destroy one of the houses near the chalk - pit to form overhead cover.

Soon after midnight I came back from the trenches for a meal, after which I was sent down to brigade headquarters in Givry.

There I managed to snatch half an hour's sleep of sorts on the stone floor, when I was woken up and asked to wait outside. Sir Douglas Haig and the Brigadier were consulting over a map at the table. After about ten minutes Sir Douglas Haig came out and drove off in his car. I then went in again and received verbal orders to the effect that the brigade would retire by the same road along which we had arrived the day before, and that our regiment would cover its retreat.

Having delivered this message to the Colonel, he told me to ride out on a bicycle to Veilleret le Sec and ascertain from the Colonel of the Berkshires how and by what road he intended to withdraw.

By this time the artillery duel had commenced again, and it did not look as if my ride was going to be at all a pleasant one. However, there was no time to wait and think about it, so after consulting a gunner officer, who advised me to make a bolt for it after one of their bursts of firing had finished, I set off.

When I had covered about half the distance the shells

started whistling overhead again, and I put my head down and pedalled: the result was that I ran right into a shell-hole and capsized. Fortunately the shells were all bursting about 50 yards or more over the road, so I picked myself up and proceeded.

Having arrived in the village, and finding no sign of life there, I proceeded through to the other end, where I found a road crossing mine at right angles. I turned up this road to the right, where it entered a small cutting, and dismounted about 200 yards along it.

On crawling up the bank I was rather taken aback at discovering, not the Berkshires

in their trenches as I had expected, but at least a battalion of the enemy coming out of a wood about 800 yards in front of me.

Needless to say I rode back even faster than I had ridden out, and reported what I had seen. The Berkshires had apparently already withdrawn by the lower road to our right.

We then started to fall back, company by company, through the village on to the higher ground behind.

My company was the last to leave, and as we dribbled back into Givry our cavalry were already engaged just this side of Veilleret le Sec.

Eventually we got back to Bonnet, about three miles south-west of Givry, without firing a shot. Here we formed up, and passing through the 1st Division marched through Goignies and Malplaquet to Bavay.

About a mile short of Bavay we turned into a field at 5.30 P.M.

We had had a very tiring march: it was very hot, we had been digging all night, and we had had no rations, so we hoped that we might be going to get a rest.

This, however, was not to be, as we went out on outposts again at seven o'clock. Three companies were in the firing line, whilst my own company was in support. We managed to make ourselves very comfortable in some corn - shocks, and having had a meal and some hot tea, felt considerably better than we had done a few hours before.

At 3 A.M. next morning, August 25, we stood to arms and awaited the dawn. About six o'clock a heavy cannonade began on our left, which appeared to be the enemy shelling the village of Houdain.

About seven we got a report that a body of infantry, estimated at about a thousand, was advancing obliquely to the front of our centre company.

Soon after this we got got orders to start retiring: we were again rearguard, and my company went back to take up a covering position about half a mile in rear.

Again we managed to get away without becoming heavily engaged, and forming up at Haignies, settled down for another long march.

It was again very hot, and I remember, during a halt just outside Pont-sur-Sambre, the men started eating carrots

and swedes which they pulled up in a field by the roadside. We had some too, and were very thankful for them, as we were getting pretty hungry by that time.

We were told that we were going to billet at Maroilles, and were all under the impression that we were being taken back for a rest, especially when we passed through the 5th Brigade making strong defences at Pont-sur-Sambre.

After another tiring march we arrived at Maroilles about 6 P.M., and halted in the square waiting to get into our billets.

While we were waiting, a two-seater car came in driven by a German, with an English Staff officer beside him: he had been captured that morning.

One or two of us went up to look at his equipment (he was the first German we had seen at close quarters), when there was a commotion of some sort across the square.

I cannot explain exactly what occurred, as I do not know even now, but I heard a woman shouting "les Allemands," and an R.A.M.C. orderly who was running past told us that they were only about a mile outside the town. The scene that followed is not easy to describe: imagine the main street of a town full of motor-cars, transport and hospital waggons on one side, and three regiments of infantry in fours on the other: orders to fix bayonets were given, some of us were told to turn about, others to stand fast, whilst all vehicles were to get back out

of the town. In addition to the confusion caused by all the vehicles trying to turn about, and men being marched off in every direction, there were numerous terrified inhabitants rushing about in all directions.

Order was quickly restored, and each company was given one or more of the roads leading into the town to guard.

My own company went back up one of the roads which leads out of the town to the northeast.

After we had got picquets out down each side-road and things looked more or less settled, we started to try and discover what the cause of the excitement was. We gathered that a flying column of the enemy in motor cars had broken through behind us, and were now only a mile outside the town on the road which leads south to Landrécies.

After about ten minutes we got orders to re-form and return to billets, as it was & false alarm. Hardly had we started to march in, however, when there came fresh orders that the posts were to be resumed. So back we went again. At this moment a very heavy thunderstorm came on, and we were drenched to the skin.

What with being wet through, very tired, and thinking that our night's rest was to be lost, we were not very cheerful.

However, about an hour later we got definite orders to go into billets, and the scare was explained by the fact that the Guards, who were at Landrécies, had been mistaken for

Germans because of their grey greatcoats.

It was now dark, and after wandering round the town for some time we eventually found our billets and got into them.

We were just getting a meal ready, and preparing to get our clothes dry, when the word came round to fall in on our alarm-posts. This was about 9 P.M.

Two of our companies were sent out to picquet the roads, while the other two were kept in reserve. I was fortunate enough to be in one of the reserve companies, and managed to get a hot meal and change of clothing.

All through the night we sat there wondering what was happening. Rifle fire was going on more or less continually at different points all through the night.

Motors and motor cycles kept coming in and going out by the Landrécies road, and there was a continuous stream of transport and hospital waggons going down the street. They had established a temporary hospital just opposite us, and there seemed to be a great number of wounded men being brought in.

I suppose one day the truth of all that went on that night will be known, and I should like to know how many Germans there actually were who tried to get into the town in the darkness.

About 1.30 A.M. we got orders to fall in, and at 1.45 A.M. we marched out of the town. We proceeded by a road leading out of the north

Here we were ordered to get down in the ditch, which, by the way, was very wet, and be prepared to rush the bridge at dawn.

We had hardly done this, however, before we got another order to re-form on the road and march back.

This we did in silence, and then halted just outside the

This appeared to be as bad as it could be: the 5th Brigade, apparently, who had been left behind at Pont-sur-Sambre as rearguard, had been obliged to fall back during the night, and also there had been a flying column of the enemy who had occupied Landrécies: so we were practically cut off.

Whilst digesting this bit of news, however, we started to move off along the road to Noyelles, by which we had entered the town the night before. Hardly was our tail clear of the town-in fact, I believe there were some people still left there when the shells began to arrive.

When we had nearly arrived at Noyelles, we suddenly en

Here, aided by the Engineers, we prepared a position facing more or less northwest.

At about 12.30 P.M. we were relieved by the Black Watch, and started off marching once more. After another long

march we arrived at Vénérolles about 7.30 P.M. Between Oisy and Étreux we passed through the 4th Guards Brigade, who were preparing a rearguard position on both sides of the road.

At Vénérolles we bivouacked in a field, and the rain proceeded to come down in torrents.

However, by this time we were ready to sleep anywhere and in anything.

It was here discovered that the boxes containing the commissariat and the kits of the officers of the two companies who had gone out on outpost duty had been left behind in their billets.

They had gone straight out on to the alarm posts, marched off, and next morning had joined the column without going back to billets at all. We, who were in reserve, had not only had time to get a meal and a change, but had managed to get our things back on to the transport before it moved off.

Such is the fortune of war. At 6 o'clock A.M. we marched off, and just missing Hanappes, where we had spent five peaceful days such a short time ago, we arrived on the main road by the Jerusalem Auberge and proceeded, as the advancethe advanceguard to the Divisional Supply Column, towards Guise.

We passed through this through this historic old town about 10 A.M. The road was full of refugees and French "stragglers." During a halt about a mile south of Guise five German prisoners, under an escort, came along the road: they were surrounded by a howling mob of people, mostly children, who had followed them all the way from the town.

About 1 P.M. we came to Mont d'Origny: I remember there was an old man here who stood at the corner of the street and cursed us heartily, calling us cowards and every name under the sun.

Soon after 2 P.M. we arrived at Lucy, where we proceeded to take up an outpost position to cover the supply column, which was filling up. We spent a very pleasant and peaceful afternoon, but about 6 P.M. there was another alarm, to the effect that the Germans were in St Quentin, about 10 miles to our west flank, so instead of going back to the village to billet, as we had originally intended doing, we started to dig ourselves in again. This was, I think, one of the worst nights we spent. There were many nights when we only had a vague idea of where the enemy were and

what we were doing, but this night we seemed to be particularly at sea.

It was very cold, and there was a thick fog; and I think the strain of the long marches, little or no sleep, and constant alarms began to tell: at any rate more than one was a little light-headed that night, and one of us actually went to sleep standing up, and nothing could wake him; we put him on the Mess-cart, and he never moved till 6 o'clock the next evening, when he was quite all right again.

After standing to arms for an hour in our trenches, vainly peering into the mist for the expected attack, and shivering with cold, we were withdrawn at 4.30 A.M. Soon after passing through Le Meziere we halted by the roadside for breakfast. We had no time to cook anything, just biscuits and jam: within half an hour we were on the march again.

It turned out to be another grilling hot day, and I remember two of us took it in turn to ride the company horse, whilst the other one who was walking went to sleep, holding on to the stirrup for guidance: the idea was good, but had unfortunately to be abandoned, as in a couple of minutes all three of us were in the ditch, horse and all being overcome.

We began to get rather despondent, and for a time we thought it quite possible that we were marching to the nearest seaport to try and save the British Army from utter annihilation. This idea did not, however, last