Your position is a difficult one, for there is no place from which your men can fire. You cannot even use the step _C_, nor the parapet _A K_, for the parados _H G_ is, as is usually the case, eighteen inches higher than is the old crest line at _A_. In the short time at your disposal it will be next to impossible to make a continuous step so as to enable you to fire over _H_, and in the circumstances the best thing for you to do is to concentrate the whole of your energies on getting your Lewis guns into position and to use intensive labour for the purpose.[1] It is possible that you may be able to get one or two of the Lewis guns satisfactorily into position at some of the places in which the revetment in _F G H_ has been knocked down. If, in your company, you have half a dozen iron or wire grips which you can utilise to pull down the sandbag revetment, you will find them of the greatest assistance, for men who only have their hands to work with find it very difficult to get a grip on a sandbag which is in a revetment. [1] See Problem 3, p. 35. You must at once place look-out men to give you warning of any sign of the enemy assembling in the edge of the wood to your front and be prepared to open on them with rifle grenades. The real advantage that a machine gun or Lewis gun has over a rifle is that from a small point of vantage one of these weapons can pour a tremendous hail of fire, and in such circumstances as those depicted above there is no doubt but that the first consideration should be to get your Lewis guns into position. If possible, it is best to place these in pairs, shooting obliquely and crossing their fire in front of you. As soon as this is done you should thin out and organise your defence in depth. This being carried out, you must determine what localities you will hold and where you will have your gaps. You should generally have a locality in front of any communication trench leading up from the rear. As soon as you have determined on your localities, you must set-to and build a fire step. The next measure to take in order of importance is to collect ammunition and place it at convenient points. After you have done this, try to put wire or some other obstacle in front. In advising this, I am presuming that you have reached your final objective. Be careful to remove any old German wire behind you which will prevent your own supports coming up over the open to reinforce you. Try to get your localities marked by lamps at night, that your own friends in rear can see where they are. PROBLEM 8