On April 28th the enemy put down a heavy barrage on the British front, from 7-30 p.m. to 9-0 p.m., and desultory shelling continued through the night. About 3-0 a.m. on the morning of April 29th this suddenly changed to a barrage, the intensity and depth of which can seldom have been equalled. From Mont Vidaigne on the right to Zillebeke Lake on the left, the whole front was ablaze. On the sector held by the 147th Infantry Brigade the whole country, from the front line to beyond Ouderdom, was deluged with shells. High explosive and gas literally rained down everywhere. Practically the first shell of the bombardment burst in the roof of the farm house, which was occupied by Battalion H.Q., and mortally wounded both the orderly room clerks; the R.S.M., who was in the same room, had a wonderful escape, and fragments actually penetrated the roof of the cellar, in which the Commanding Officer was sleeping at the time. By a great stroke of luck the barrage almost entirely missed the front line, so that its garrison, though extremely uncomfortable, was practically unharmed. No one doubted that this was the prelude to another mighty attack. After about two hours of this bombardment, the German infantry advanced in great numbers to the attack. They gained nothing. Caught by the British barrage, mown down by Lewis gun and rifle fire, they suffered enormous casualties. It is said that, on one part of the front, they were so demoralised that they put out a white flag and tried to come in, but could not pass through the barrage. On the whole front attacked they only gained a footing in the allied line in two places, and from both of these they were ejected almost immediately by counter-attacks. All this time the barrage continued.