| For each trench mortar bomb | 1 salvo of 18-pounder H.E. | |
| ” | enemy torpedo | 2 salvos ” ” and 2 4·5-inch howitzers. |
| ” | enemy 5·9 shell | 1 8-inch shell. |
[29] Noises, alleged to be German mining on the Corps’ front, were actually traced to (a) revetting, (b) sentries stamping their feet, (c) rats burrowing on the parapet, (d) a loose beam or branch blown by the wind, (e) running water, (f) the beat of a man’s own heart, (g) a half-dead fly buzzing at the bottom of a hole (this was taken for a machine drill), and (h) actual mining.
[30] The machine-gun was reckoned to be equivalent to thirty rifles.
[31] Even under the most damping circumstances the men maintained a sense of humour. A platoon commander of the 12th Royal Scots on asking a man, standing in a water-logged trench, how he liked his surroundings, received the unexpected reply—“Weel, sir, this is no like Sauchiehall Street.”
[32] The Bangalore torpedo presented the appearance of a drain pipe. It was filled with ammonal and fired with a fuse. It was most effective in clearing a gap in wire, and could be made any size by joining several sections together.
[33] Targets were selected from the map, the guns being sited according to the estimated distance.
[34] The XIII. Corps was under the Fourth Army, commanded by General Sir H. Rawlinson, K.C.B.
[35] Sir Douglas Haig succeeded Sir John French as Commander-in-Chief in December 1915.
[36] In July 1916 the strength of the British Army in France was 660,000. Despatches, p. 19.
[37] Despatches, p. 19, para. 2, line 5.