"Front line, sir?"
"Right bang up in the front line."
"What are the trenches like, sir?"
"No time to dig trenches; they're hanging on to a few shell-holes, though they may have connected them up by now. See, there's Combles, and that's Leuze Wood. We shall be on the extreme right of the British army. B Company will be on the right; C Company in the centre, and A Company on the left with D Company in support. Headquarters will be close by Falfemont Farm."
"Very good, sir."
"You won't find any farm left; been blown to dust. Men are to go in battle order; packs are to be parked just outside here, by companies. No. 5 platoon will move off at 7 P.M., the remainder following in succession at fifty yards' interval."
I understood, and turned to go.
"By the way, I am not sure whether the Germans are in that trench or the —— Battalion, London Regiment. Anyhow, that's where we've got to be to-night."
Half an hour later and the men were laying out their packs in long rows, by companies. Strange sight, all these packs laid out in neat rows. The reason did not need explaining. There was work at the other end of that Valley of Death; there lay the pit of the Great Adventure. Perhaps to-night we should look into it; but how many would come back to claim their packs.