That day, the 20th, leave reopened, having been closed since January, and everyone began to calculate their chances.
About this time we were encouraged to use our Lewis guns against hostile aircraft, and special mountings and fittings were issued to us for that purpose—it was impossible for people behind to deal with machines flying low over our front line. This aeroplane shooting was rather good sport, and though very few were actually brought down by Lewis gun fire, they soon learned to keep out of range. At this time the aeroplane activity in the SALIENT was great on both sides—on a fine day machines swarmed like midges in the sky.
On the night of the 20th we were relieved by the 1/4th KING’S OWN, and on relief we marched to A Camp, just behind VLAMERTINGHE, leaving Captain Harris and 200 men of B and D Companies in YPRES as a working party. They had rather a lively time, as YPRES was being heavily shelled daily—a shell actually entered a cellar where several men were sleeping, ricochetted and buried itself in one of the walls without exploding or touching anyone. During the next few days five men were wounded.
On the night of the 26th we relieved the 1/4th KING’S OWN in the POTIJZE sector, C and A Companies in front, B in support, and D in reserve, and began at once a series of works designed to mislead the enemy and make him think an attack was intended on our front. How much he was deceived appeared from the amount of attention we received from this time onward until the battle of MESSINES.
The opposing sides gained much of their knowledge of the other’s intentions from aeroplane photographs, which show up with great clearness any newly-dug earth. It was our task then to open up all the disused trenches on our sector, placing along the top a row of new sandbags, and to dig saps out into NO MAN’S LAND, at the same time annoying the Hun by every means in our power. Two were killed and three wounded during the next four days, during which we kept throwing things at the Hun—trench mortars, grenades, bullets, etc.—and we really did stir him up. Then came the news that we were not to be relieved, so Companies changed over.
On 1st June the gas strafe started; our people started it with a discharge of 500 gas drums on enemy reserves. We heard afterwards that so sudden and concentrated was the attack that a whole Company were poisoned where they stood. The enemy retaliated on us, killing one man and wounding three, using everything he had; then he began to bring up gas shells and use them, chiefly at night on lines of communication. The sighing of gas shells going over never ceased during three successive nights before the show, yet the damage done was very slight. But the Companies in the trenches kept getting odd ones, and the veering breeze kept clouds of various gases drifting about for quite a long time, and we had a few anxious vigils. The Hun was very angry and horribly afraid and therefore shelled everything he could think of, and we appeared to occupy some of his thoughts, for we certainly got our full share and he took his toll of us.
On the 2nd we sent over more gas drums, and again the Hun retaliated, doing a lot of damage to trenches and killing two men and wounding five others.
On the 3rd we treated him to a combined smoke, artillery, and machine gun barrage, and he replied, but more feebly, killing one man and wounding two; but during the night, from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m., he drenched YPRES with gas shells, our transport suffering slightly. He also, on the following day, put 67 “Minnies” on to B Company, killing one man and wounding Second Lieutenants Hall and Johnson and 11 others. We were glad to learn that Lieutenant-Colonel Hindle had been awarded the D.S.O. in the Birthday Honours List.
That night a minor enterprise by the 1/5th NORTH LANCASHIRE REGIMENT on our right caused some shelling on our right front Company, and a party digging saps in front escaped by a miracle; he also sent a few Granatenwerfer over into the middle of another party engaged in sap digging, causing several casualties, the total being 14 wounded for the two days. On the 14th both sides were active. We were preparing an elaborate programme of smoke and other bombs, to be discharged at the same hour as the MESSINES battle was timed to start, also putting scaling ladders against the parapet—this work was under Captain Harris. The Hun shelled YPRES pretty heavily in the evening, and set two large dumps on fire.