The period which followed was one of anxious expectation. For the last month signs had been accumulating of the imminence of a great enemy offensive. It was known that many of his best divisions had been brought over from the Russian Front, and that his armies had never been so strong in the West before. In the early months of the year attack training had been carried out on an unusually large scale. And now the information obtained from almost every prisoner pointed to a great attack in the very near future. Every possible precaution had been taken in the Second Army to meet an attack, should it come on that front, and all were anxiously waiting for the enemy to make his first move. One minor attack had been made on the 33rd Division north of the Menin Road, about a fortnight before. But as the enemy had made no further attempt there, it was probably only a “blind.” On March 21st the storm broke, though far away to the south. Never since stationary warfare had taken the place of movement, had a single attack been made on so wide a front in the West. From the neighbourhood of Arras to far south of St. Quentin, the whole front was ablaze. The news which reached the Battalion during the first few days was brief, but it was enough to make clear to everyone that practically the whole force of the enemy’s offensive was directed against the British, and that the situation was desperate to a degree. On March 24th the Commander-in-Chief published his, now famous, Special Order of the Day; and in forwarding it to Battalions the G.O.C., 49th Division, himself issued an Order which is so characteristic of the man that it is worth repeating in full:-- “In forwarding the attached copy of a Special Order of the Day by Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, I wish to say at once that I have complete confidence that the 49th (West Riding) Division will acquit itself gloriously in whatever circumstances it may be placed. Remember that other Divisions elsewhere are at this moment holding up splendidly the most strenuous efforts of the enemy to force a decision. Remember also that if we are called upon to fight here, we shall be fighting on the historic ground where the ‘contemptible little British Army’ fought and defeated the enemy’s first great effort to destroy it in 1914. In that year we defeated him with the rifle. With the rifle we can and will defeat him again--the more thoroughly this time, as we have our wire to give our rifles a better opportunity than they had in 1914. Go on improving your wire, look carefully to your rifles, Machine Guns, and Lewis Guns, and ammunition, exercise vigilance every moment of the day, to see that every yard of your front is watched and can be shot into. We can then beat off any attack. So much for the defensive.