After a strenuous day's work, during which I had only time to take a mouthful of bread and cheese, which I carried in my pocket, I espied an orderly making his way towards me.
"The C.O. sent me, sir; you're wanted at once."
"Oh! any news?"
"I think we are in for a binge, sir."
"Which is the way to headquarters?"
"About two hundred yards back. Follow that narrow little track which winds around the shell-holes, and you can't miss it. Don't leave the track, or you will lose your way."
On arriving at H.Q. I found a small group of officers bending anxiously over a map. The C.O. turned to me as I approached:
"Ah! There you are. Get your books out, and take down your orders—ready! You are to take command of B Company. Well, now, here's our position; there's Combles and there's Leuze Wood. Take your company out into 'No Man's Land,' and extend along a line facing half right to our present position, with your left resting on the wood. C Company will be in the wood on your left; and A Company will be on your right—understand?"
"Yes, sir."
"You'll dig in to-night, and to-morrow we are going to take that trench that's formed like a square, to prepare the way for a frontal attack on Combles by the French. You'll take the upper portion of that perpendicular trench, passing the wood on your left."