On March 1st the hostile trenches were again raided, this time by the 2nd Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, and on March 3rd the attack by the 8th Division was carried out on the left with the object of securing a jutting-out portion of the enemy front and support lines. The attack was too far to the north to permit of the 33rd Divisional Artillery batteries taking any share therein, except for "A" and B/156 who had on the 1st completed their move to the left to reinforce the artillery supporting the assault. The 33rd Division did, however, carry out a feint bombardment synchronising with the barrage of the 8th Division, and this in itself was of considerable value since once again information was obtained concerning the strength of the enemy. The infantry in and on the left of Limberlost Wood not only let off smoke during the feint attack, but also fired rockets of every conceivable colour and variety, and the effect of this upon the enemy was surprising. Completely mystified, very nervous and on edge, he bombarded the trenches held by the 33rd Division with all his might and main, and disclosed the strength of artillery which he still held upon the front. This strength was, indeed, quite normal and seemed to belie any ideas of an early retreat on his part, but one feature stood out prominently. Artillery officers from each of the brigades, who were sent down to the infantry to report on the hostile artillery strength, pointed out that the entire retaliation was carried out by field-guns and 10 cm. howitzers; of heavy guns and even 15 cm. howitzers there were none. Perhaps, after all, this supposed retirement was near at hand. Whether it was or was not, from the 4th until the 9th a steady bombardment was kept up upon the enemy communications. Infantry patrols reported the line lightly held, and the sniping and movement going on was suspected of being carried out by a few picked men moving from place to place in the trenches and utilising fixed and automatically-fired rifles to the full. Even a raid by the enemy in the early morning of the 8th did not wipe out this idea; the opinion was formed that it was sheer bluff, and that only a very few machine-guns and individual gunners, making a lavish use of Very lights, were maintaining the appearance of strength on the enemy's part.

The 33rd Divisional Artillery never saw the climax of this affair. On the morning of Friday the 9th, half batteries of the 156th and 162nd Brigades were relieved by the 178th and 181st Brigades respectively of the 40th Division. The remaining half batteries withdrew on the 11th, and the two brigades, turning their backs upon the battlefields of the Somme, marched into rest at Vaux-sur-Somme and Sailly-le-Sec. Rumour had it that they were to go into training for some great battle shortly to take place, a battle in which the line was to be broken, open fighting was to be the order of the day, the German line was to be turned and British arms were to be victorious over the enemy once and for all. Rumour, as on all such occasions, ran wild amongst the men, but where the attack was to be and when, whether it was in connection with the expected German retreat or elsewhere was kept from all except a favoured few. Officially it was said that there was to be fighting, and open fighting at that, and that the batteries must train accordingly; more than that they were not to know.

From the 11th until the 25th the batteries trained hard in every form of exercise; gun drill, driving drill, flag and lamp signalling, battery staff work and movement into action over open ground were carried out day by day, while in the evening concerts and sing-songs were interspersed with lectures to build up the fighting spirit of the men, to raise their morale to the highest and to give them that quiet confidence and assuredness of being the better man which is so essential to troops who have a battle lying before them.

Moreover, the fighting spirit of the men was raised in other ways than by lectures. The batteries, drawn up in hollow square at church parade, saw the Corps Commander decorate officers and men for gallantry; heard the citation which accompanied the Order of the Crown of Italy awarded to Lieut.-Colonel O. M. Harris; heard the Corps Commander tell them how, shortly after they had been withdrawn from the line, infantry patrols had discovered the enemy trenches to be unoccupied; learnt how, with the enemy in general retreat, the whole of our line southwards from Arras was pressing forward on the heels of the enemy, and even as he spoke was occupying and advancing east from Péronne. It was no concern of the men's that the enemy was relinquishing very bad ground merely in order to take up a vastly superior and stronger position which he had, under the most favourable circumstances, been preparing for some time. They returned to their billets feeling that the enemy really was the under-dog, that his tail was down and consequently that theirs was decidedly up.

Only one incident of this period marred the pleasure of the rest which was being enjoyed. Before the batteries moved northward they lost their C.R.A., Brigadier-General C. F. Blane who, on undertaking new duties, left the Divisional Artillery with whom he was so closely connected. General Blane brought out the (then) four artillery brigades to France in their early raw state in 1915. He helped to mould and to shape them, and, after leading them through all the hazardous times of the Battle of the Somme and through the dreary and trying conditions of the winter, he now handed them over, a splendid fighting unit, to his successor. General Blane did a tremendous amount towards building up the 33rd Divisional Artillery, and in its future history the name of the man who did so much for it in its earlier stages must always be remembered.

The orders to move were ultimately received in the fourth week of March. On the 24th the C.R.A., Brigadier-General Stewart, who had succeeded General Blane in the command of the 33rd Divisional Artillery, set out in a motor bus with his brigade and battery commanders to make a preliminary reconnaissance of the new front on which the batteries were to operate. Next day the latter in full fighting order moved off towards the north on the four-day march which was to terminate at Arras, and was to bring them to the positions from which they would assist in the great offensive of April 9th—the battle of Arras and Vimy Ridge.

CHAPTER VI.
THE BATTLE OF ARRAS AND VIMY RIDGE.
(APRIL-JUNE 1917.)

The march of the batteries from the Somme to Arras proved very exacting; not only were the weather conditions rather more than bad—intense cold and wet being experienced the whole time—but also the batteries, already deprived of their commanders, were further depleted on the second day of the march, when an order was received for one officer and twenty men from every battery to go forward by motor lorry to work upon the positions which had been allotted for occupation. A measure of praise is due to those, in many cases, junior officers who under difficult conditions, short of personnel and in foul weather led the batteries over the long road through Talmas and Bealcourt towards Arras, now at last disclosed as the goal of the 33rd Divisional Artillery.

All along the line of that march the direction of the coming battle was clearly indicated. Vast columns filled the road, columns of infantry, guns and transport, columns of motor-lorries and ambulances, all with their faces set towards the north, all forming part of a great moving stream inexorable in its progress. Even to the inexperienced the sight of these masses moving up, with scarcely a single vehicle passing in the opposite direction, indicated a great concentration in progress, a mighty gathering of the storm clouds, and only two questions remained unanswered; exactly where, and how soon?

While the batteries were marching steadily along, pondering over these questions, the brigade and battery commanders, who had covered the whole distance on the 24th, were busily engaged in examining the positions they were to occupy and the zones to be covered. The 15th Divisional Artillery, who were in the line at the time, had already in part prepared the positions to be occupied by the 33rd, and the work and trouble they had expended thereon won for them a very deep feeling of gratitude amongst the officers and men who were to benefit by their labours. Until the arrival of the working parties who had been detached from the batteries on the line of march, however, no material work could be done, and accordingly the time was spent in studying the zone to be covered and in reconnoitring the best O.P.'s from which to shoot.