After spending eight days in the trenches we came out for a well-earned rest. My particular company was stationed at a farmhouse which was situated quite close to the firing line. The owner was generally considered to be pro-German, his father, according to rumor, having previously been shot as a spy. The farmer had a dog which had been tied up for about nine months, and our sentries had strict orders that if any of the civilians left the house we were to halt them, and if they did not halt on the word of command we were to shoot. But I think at that time it would have been a case of "shoot first," for we were imagining all sorts of things. As it happened somebody let the dog loose, and as the sentries felt sure he was going over to the German lines with despatches, they just shot him dead. Major MacKenzie had to pay 30 francs for him to satisfy the farmer and to prevent headquarters hearing of the matter. At the termination of our six days' rest we went back to the trenches and relieved the 24th Battalion. "B" Company, to which I belonged, occupied H 3, J 3, 4, 5 and H 4. Every little while Fritz would "strafe" us with rifle grenades, and there was some mining reported in H 4. This was a small salient; and was held by about forty men under Capt. Medcalfe. On the evening of October 8th about six p.m. we were all chatting together, some papers from home had been received by some of the boys and we were discussing the names of the newly formed 36th Battery, when all of a sudden there was quite an explosion on our right. The Germans had blown up several small mines. Capt. Medcalfe at once gave the order to "stand to," but before I had time to get my rifle and equipment, the ground trembled and rocked beneath us and everything went up into the air. The explosion took away fully half of H 4 trench, and left a crater about 10 feet deep. Those of us who were lucky enough to escape without being wounded managed, I don't know how, to make our way into H 3 trench. Fortunately for us the enemy was very erratic in his artillery fire. It was all going between our second and third line trenches and consequently did no damage. This was our first real bombardment, and quite naturally we all felt more or less "shaky"--I know I said my prayers that night as I never said them before! The papers had it that the Germans got into our trenches and that we drove them out again. Such a thing never happened. They made an attack on us, but our artillery, rifle and machine gun fire caught them in "No Man's Land." By a happy coincidence the West Lancashire Artillery was just relieving the 7th Battery of Artillery and we had the support of both of them, and, believe me, they sure did some wonderful work.