[Illustration: Releasing a Pigeon with a Message for Help] One man was allotted to carry the pigeons in a small wooden box. This man was always Wagner. He professed to love birds and had taken a course to train pigeons. Whenever our battalion was out at rest, if in a town, Wagner was sure to be away after drill hours. Seldom was he seen at the Y.M.C.A., nor did he ever appear to write any letters. We discovered that he had confederates in some of these little villages where he procured German pigeons, and, no doubt, by some means he exchanged these pigeons and sent important messages occasionally to the enemy. No doubt Wagner had warned the Huns when they were massing in the sunken road that we were aware of it and were prepared to surprise them. Wagner was sent out of the line under escort. As he passed me he gave a very malevolent stare. He was duly shot at sunrise. Another crafty Hun paid the penalty of his treachery. CHAPTER XII TOWARDS A BOMB-PROOF JOB Whilst we were practicing going over the tapes at Masnil Bouche for the attack on Vimy Ridge, we noticed that after we had finished our practice an Imperial battalion would follow on after us. It was rumoured that it was a London County battalion. We never had any chance to speak to any of the officers or men, so we nicknamed them the "Silent Battalion." Later on, when we had consolidated our positions after the attack, this battalion went over our heads and secured a position somewhere in front of us. We could see by the way that they went about their work that they were very efficient. On the morning of the attack I met the battalion sergeant major of this battalion in the _Zwischen Stellung_ trench. He was then leading a platoon. He informed me that the platoon officer had been killed and that he was placed in charge of this platoon. Later on I was informed that this sergeant major was also killed just as he reached his final objective.