Following this raid there was but little hostile retaliation. The enemy activity had died down considerably of late, although from the 17th to the 19th heavy area shell-storms occurred once more upon the guns, and indeed it seemed that the enemy was devoting all his attention to the battery and back areas. This, in fact, was hardly surprising. The chief work of the 156th and 162nd Brigades at the time was the bombardment of enemy roads and battery positions, and in the latter considerable success had attended their efforts. Many explosions were caused amongst the enemy batteries which were the targets, and it was only natural—a compliment, in fact, to the accuracy of the British guns—that the Germans should turn the chief blast of their hatred upon the originators of this trouble.
Thus the month passed out uneventfully but uncomfortably, and July came in to continue the conditions which had been prevailing. On June 30th a slight change in the disposition of the brigades had been made, for on that day the 11th Army Field Artillery Brigade withdrew from the line and the 156th Brigade was left to cover the entire front of the left infantry brigade, the 162nd looking after the right. To simplify this "A," "B" and D/156 took over the positions of the 83rd, 85th and D/11 batteries respectively, and July found them in action in the Canal sector. The policy of the batteries remained the same—harassing fire on roads and tracks, constant counter-battery work and occasional responses to infantry calls, while the enemy continued the practice of frequent shell-storms on the batteries, with high-velocity guns looking after the roads and back areas. In particular the forward gun positions at Groenen Jager and the area around Vlamertinghe and Goldfish Château received exceptionally heavy bombardment.
At the end of the first week certain alterations of the front covered by the batteries were made; the infantry of the 33rd Division handed over to the division on their left the front from Zillebeke Lake to the Ypres-Comines Canal and, sideslipping to the right, took over from the 6th Division on the right (who had relieved the French 46th Division on June 26th) the front to as far south as the Vijverhoek-Eizenwalle railway. No infantry operations took place, however, until the 14th.
On Monday, July 14th, at 6.0 A.M. the right battalion, right brigade of the 33rd Division (1st Middlesex), together with the 18th Infantry Brigade of the 6th Division on the right, attacked under cover of the guns to recapture the original front line east of Ridge Wood and from there to Voormezeele, and succeeded in every detail. The enemy barrage was not really strong, and only for short periods was it heavy. At first it was confined to the forward area but later in the day spread to the batteries, and during the afternoon the latter came in for a fairly severe gruelling. All gains were held, and the Forward Observing Officers dealt very effectively with small parties of the enemy who kept dribbling up as though concentrating for a counter-attack. No such concentration, however, was permitted by the guns to be carried out. Counter-preparation was fired daily, morning and evening, and so the British troops were able to boast of a successful advance on their part on the scene of the late German offensive; the strategic initiative was once more in our hands.
Following on this attack, hostile artillery activity greatly increased. All battery positions were heavily shelled, Goldfish Château and Vlamertinghe being bombarded with great severity, and C/162 forward section had both its guns knocked out by direct hits. It was a typical period of trench warfare, when the artilleries of both sides sought each other out and pounded away at the opposing positions, keeping the while a watchful and active eye on the doings of the infantry.
It was therefore a most suitable time for "new hands" to come and learn the ropes, and fortunately come they did. On July 14th five American artillery officers were posted to each brigade, to see what active service was like and to learn British methods. They were the advance party of a division shortly to come into the line, and for several days they remained with the batteries before they returned to their own units, there to expound to the latter the information and experience they had gained. On July 25th a battalion of the 30th American Division took over part of the front of the right infantry brigade, 33rd Division, and thus the United States of America began to take a part in the war in the north.
The only striking feature which presented itself during the month of July on this sector was the constant fear of a renewed enemy offensive. The German reserves, even as late as July 20th, numbered some thirty-five divisions opposite this part of the front alone, and, with the presence of such an enemy concentration, it was only natural that there should be continued warnings and alarms of impending attacks. On July 21st the wagon-lines of all batteries were ordered to "stand by" throughout the night, with teams fully harnessed up; on July 24th a message was received at 1 A.M. that the enemy would attack at dawn. Again on the 26th the battery wagon-lines were rudely disturbed by a warning that an enemy assault was hourly awaited, and once again the drivers stood by their teams expecting at each moment to hear the distant crash of the opening barrage. As a result of these rumours every battery was called upon to reconnoitre tiers of positions to be occupied in case of a successful enemy attack, but such an event never took place, and the month drew to a close with no untoward affair to mark its going.
Thus July passed out as its predecessor had gone—uneventfully, but with considerable liveliness. With its going, however, the Division lost Brigadier-General Stewart, who on July 29th handed over the command of the Divisional Artillery to Brigadier-General G. H. W. Nicholson. General Stewart had been with the Divisional Artillery for many months, first as Colonel, later as Brigadier, and, although the exigencies of war often took him away from the brigades to other sections of the front where the infantry of the Division was being covered by artillery not of its own, his presence was familiar and welcome to all ranks. His departure was a cause of great regret to his many friends, but he left behind him a unit of which any Commander might justly be proud.
August 1918, a month of great deeds amongst the troops farther south, brought little change of conditions in Flanders, and the holding of the line continued as before. On the 2nd the 156th and 162nd Brigades assisted in a raid which gained identification of the 8th German Division in this sector; the 8th Division, however, seemed to be following a policy exactly similar to its predecessors, and life in the batteries continued as before, with rather an unusual interlude on the 6th, when His Majesty the King inspected selected officers from the 33rd Divisional Artillery at Lovie Château.
On August 7th the rear position of A/162 (Major Fetherston) was moved to a point 500 yards north-east of Goldfish Château, midway between Vlamertinghe and Ypres, and on the 10th C/162 took a similar step. At this time two more American officers, Captain Westfeldt and Captain Fields, were attached to the 156th and 162nd Brigades respectively, while forty-eight hour visits of infantry officers to the batteries also began—a most welcome interruption to the monotony of these days, and a very interesting diversion for all concerned.