The Transport Lines were at Vieille Chapelle and everything was so quiet that ration limbers were brought up nightly along the Rue du Bois, as far as Battalion H.Q. Each company had its trench kitchen in the support line and hot meals were provided for all men with little more difficulty than if the Battalion had been back in rest. The canteen was set up at Battalion H.Q., and a “hawker” went round the front line daily to sell cigarettes, etc. to the men, within two hundred yards of the enemy. From the British front line the ground sloped very gently up to the Aubers Ridge, from which the Germans had good observation. But they made little use of this. Their artillery was very quiet, except on rare occasions. Canadian Orchard and the posts on the right got most attention; Sec.-Lieut. S. P. Stansfield was killed near Shetland Post. But, compared with what the Battalion had experienced elsewhere and was to encounter later, the shelling was almost negligible. Occasional salvoes would be fired on one of the communication trenches or some other part of the line, but these caused very little inconvenience. Rarely was anything of heavier calibre than the 10.5 cm. howitzer used. One noteworthy exception to this was the afternoon of May 12th, when the junction of Cadbury Street with the Rue du Bois was heavily shelled with what appeared to be 21 cm. armour-piercing shells. Though there were no casualties this caused great inconvenience, for the pump, which supplied all water for the companies, was seriously damaged, and it took about two days to get it into working order again. The reason for this bombardment was never understood, but, as it was the only occasion on which shells of such heavy calibre were used, it was probably only a visit from a “travelling circus.” Occasionally the 15 cm. howitzer appeared; one day it heavily shelled the Rue du Bois near Sandbag Corner; on another occasion it wrecked the officers’ mess of the A246 Battery, which lay about 1,000 yards behind Battalion H.Q. In other ways too the enemy seemed quite willing to “live and let live,” if he were not interfered with. He had both medium and light trench mortars in his lines, but seldom fired more than a few rounds at a time from them. His machine guns did little and sniping was almost unknown. Undoubtedly he held his front line thinly, though movement was observed almost daily in the vicinity of the Boar’s Head, where much work was in progress. One day he gave very clear evidence that he was awake. An energetic platoon commander, who was trying to make things uncomfortable for the “Hun” with rifle grenades, unfortunately had a premature, and the loud cheering that was heard from the opposite side of No Man’s Land showed that the enemy was on the watch and fully appreciated the incident.