In such dugouts as were left we would find attractive souvenirs hung up; to most of these bombs would be attached. Some poor chap would see a good-looking German helmet hung on a nail in the dugout, attempt to remove it, and fire the bomb attached. We decided to go pretty carefully and gingerly about this work and were lucky enough to get through with only ten casualties in our company. After a few days it was not necessary to caution any troops about these little devices which the Boches had provided for us. They would hardly dare step on a stick or twig for fear it was connected to a bomb. We found the German trenches everywhere were honeycombed with subterranean galleries. The majority of these tunnels were from twenty to forty feet in depth, and close-timbered with hard wood, usually four-inch oak. Mile after mile of galleries, usually six feet by four in size, were found, and all were of first-class construction, with the timbers well braced and wedged. It was a constant source of wonder to us as to where they obtained this vast amount of lumber and how the Huns had been able to get it up in such quantities.

I was detailed one day to make a search with a small party for a cavern which existed in the village of Mercatel. I took over the men and we searched very thoroughly throughout the village. Although the cavern undoubtedly existed it was impossible to find any entrance; not only that, but every cellar, dugout, or shelter of any description in Mercatel had been likewise very systematically blown in. At one crossroads in this village, the enemy had blown a crater some sixty feet wide, and it had been necessary to build a road of broken brick through some ruins to make a turnout for the constant traffic. This work was continually shelled by the Huns, and furnishes an illustration of some of the difficulties the engineers encountered at every similar crater blown in the roads in this advance. All the troops possible who could be assigned to building roads were so detailed, but the magnitude of the repairs naturally slowed up our pursuit of the enemy. In the pursuit of the Hun, the light artillery was sent up as quickly as possible; on account of the frightful condition of the roads, it was impossible at first to use the tractors for the heavy guns. The weather was very bad, almost continual rain. The loss of horses was appalling. I understand that 200,000 of these poor animals succumbed to the effects of the hard weather, exposure, heavy work, and shortage of feed. At the side of all roads you would see dozens of horses lying dead, stretched in the mud. Once they fell in the mud, it was next to impossible to get them on their feet again. Among the mules, however, there was little loss. One would see 50 dead horses to 1 dead mule. It was a pitiful sight. Nearly all of the lighter guns and howitzers were taken up with 3 teams of horses, while the heavier guns were brought up after much delay by the usual Holt Caterpillars when the roads were repaired sufficiently to bear the traffic.

We captured thousands of prisoners in the retreat. Almost every day big batches would be brought in and placed in the barbed-wire prisoners' cages of every division on this front. Dazed, dirty-looking specimens for the most part they were, too. Men of all ages were included, from schoolboys to men of apparently nearly fifty years of age. In almost every instance they had been subjected to intense bombardment for several hours or days, and they certainly showed the effects, being in a sloppy, dishevelled condition. A few of them could speak English, but, being very carefully guarded, it was next to impossible to talk to them.

A few were apparently sullen, but the majority looked as if they were pretty well pleased with themselves and realized the war was over for them at any rate. The little German prisoners seemed to be all tin hat and boots. They wore the clumsy boots which we associate with farmers. The wounded were always given first-aid treatment and our men would give them cans of "bully beef," biscuits, and cigarettes, and these were accepted with every evidence of appreciation. After spending a few hours in the prisoners' cages, which were usually placed two to three miles back of the front lines, they would be marched to more permanent camps beyond shell-range, and from the latter would be taken out daily to work on the roads, railroads, etc., under charge of their own N.C.O.'s and an occasional British Tommy. Thousands of these German prisoners are to be seen all over France.

Shortly after the beginning of the retreat of Arras, we were billeted in the village of Blairville, a short distance south. Here we occupied an old ruin, which had evidently been the quarters of some German officers before we arrived. From the cellars of this house we could walk back to their old front-line trenches in underground galleries for over half a mile without once coming on top. In fact, one could go through the entire village underground in this way. The day after our arrival I noticed a French woman coming out of a garden near by. She was carrying something in a yellow scarf and looking very pleased with herself. In answer to my inquiry, she informed me that she had just dug up from her old garden the savings of a lifetime—several thousand francs. The Boche had occupied the village for nearly three years, but had failed to unearth her little fortune. Many old residents had adopted the same means of secreting their money and recovered it after the German retreat.

The relief of the French civilians at the retreating Hun was very marked. As one French girl rather curiously expressed it to me: "Boche partir finish wind up now." Everywhere possible they started to rebuild their roofs and walls, and emerged from their partial cellar life with great satisfaction.

CHAPTER XI
THE BATTLE OF ARRAS

About three weeks after the enemy had retired on our front opposite Beaurains a series of operations started which were afterward known as the battle of Arras. These were practically started with the splendid capture of the Vimy Ridge by the Canadians. All our fellows were highly delighted at this event, mainly by reason of the fact that we had served there for three months in the previous spring, and could appreciate the extraordinary difficulty of the task of the Canadians in capturing it, especially La Folie Farm. These positions were captured on April 9. Many other villages to the north and south of Arras were captured on following days. It was reported that the First and Third Armies took over 13,000 prisoners in the first few days of this offensive.

Unfortunately, on the 12th of April the inevitable bad weather ensued, and this considerably handicapped our efforts everywhere in this vicinity. The tanks were again much in evidence, being used in hundreds. They were brought up at night along the sunken roads and behind ridges, camouflaged very ingeniously, and then used at dawn the following mornings in attacking with the infantry.

Two types of tanks were used by the British, male and female, the female being the smaller variety. The male tank was equipped with six Lewis automatic rifles and two 6-pounders, the latter firing armor-piercing shells, while the smaller tanks were provided with Lewis guns only. I noticed one of the female tanks was equipped with 6-cylinder silent Knight engines and developed approximately 120 H.P. It had 12 inches of clearance above the ground and was about 8 feet high by about 12 feet wide in the centre, and 25 feet long. The male tanks were larger and heavier, some of these being, I think, more than 45 tons in weight. Afterward in conversation with one of the tank commanders he informed me that they had struck Boche barbed-wire entanglements that day over 10 feet in height and extremely thick. All the tanks have pet names given them by their crews.