On the morning of the 12th of April as I looked over the recently captured battle ground, I noticed that the railway construction troops had completed building a narrow gauge railway, which ran from our forward base of supplies at La Targette as far as Thelus, a very short distance from where I stood. Little gasolene engines were busy hauling up ammunition, which they distributed to the various ammunition dumps that were located at considerable intervals alongside the track. At one time we had large ammunition dumps; but we have learned from experience that it is better to have a series of small dumps well separated, so that if a shell from the enemy explodes on the dump, as it sometimes happens, our loss is not so great. The shells are carefully laid on a wooden flooring in little groups. Between each group is a layer of sand bag partitions. From these points the shells are carried forward to the different batteries on the backs of mules. The labour and pioneer battalions assisted by some of the infantry were filling in the shell holes and clearing the debris to make new roads for the mule trains and transports that were to bring up the supplies. Along the Lens-Arras road men were clearing away fallen trees that had been struck by the shells and lay across the road. Owing to the high elevation of the ground our men could work both night and day without being observed. The evening of the 12th we received orders to move forward and dig a trench at a given map location some 1500 yards from where we were. I was ordered to have my platoon dig in at a certain distance in front of a high railway embankment. I carefully took my compass bearing and, after each platoon had been carefully inspected by the platoon commanders, we moved off in single file, marching at ease. We crossed the Lens-Arras road, until we arrived and halted a short distance in front of what was left of the little village of Thelus. This little village was now a mass of ruins. Our whole brigade assembled there. At nine o'clock platoons started to move off consecutively, and when our turn arrived we proceeded towards the crest of the Ridge and passed over some of the late German trenches. As we descended beneath the crest I noticed near me a thick concrete German heavy gun emplacement. This gun and several others on the same alignment had been captured by us and we were now using them against the enemy. Our progress was extremely slow owing to the fact that on the steep slope of the ridge was a dense growth of brushwood and shell shattered trees. It would have been much easier for us to move along the Lens-Arras road which for a distance ran almost parallel to the route we were taking, but as this was under constant shell fire from the Huns it was considered advisable to take a more difficult but safer way.