In the afternoon of June 22 a particularly daring raid was carried out by Sergeant J. Sugden (later Lieutenant) of the 10th Manchesters. Annoyance had been caused by a small trench-mortar, and as it was suspected that this was fired from a derelict elephant hut a few hundred yards from our most forward post, Sugden—a born scout—resolved to make sure. He found that there was a sentry guarding a dug-out near to the elephant hut, and that the man seemed inclined to take his duties easily. Returning, he chose two companions, whom he posted on a flank, while he crawled unobserved to within a few yards of the dug-out. He then quietly informed the sentry, in fluent German, that he was covered, and that he would be shot if he showed the slightest hesitation in obeying orders. He showed none, so Sugden ordered the other occupants of the post to come out with their hands up. At first they seemed inclined to dispute the matter, until told that they were surrounded and that unless they obeyed promptly they would quickly find themselves blown into a region even lower than their dugout. The threat had its effect; they meekly obeyed, and Sugden had the satisfaction of bringing four very sullen Germans, carrying a trench-mortar, across No Man’s Land in broad daylight. The Corps Commander sent a complimentary letter to the Battalion Commander praising the initiative and the aggressive tactics of his men, and congratulated Sugden personally, and also gave him special leave for fourteen days. [Sidenote: _Night Patrols and Raids_] At the end of June the 7th Manchesters were instructed to supply a party to raid Wigan Copse and bring back three prisoners. Lieutenant A. Hodge (later Lieut.-Colonel, commanding 1/8th Manchesters), who was chosen to carry out the raid, gave his men some realistic preliminary training. At 11 p.m. on July 3 the guns opened on the enemy’s lines behind the copse, and Hodge’s platoon, after a crawl of more than half an hour, rushed the copse. Its occupants tried to bolt, but the box-barrage hemmed them in and they had to choose between fighting and surrender. One young German, who had been lying in the grass on outpost duty, was so scared that in his fright he rose and attached himself to the Manchesters, until Hodge took him by the scruff of the neck and flung him to the man behind. But no one wanted the Boche, so he was flung from one to another until finally one of the covering party held him captive. After five minutes’ rough-and-tumble, in which none of the 7th was hurt, though a number of the enemy had been bayonetted, or shot by the officer’s revolver, Hodge returned with the three prisoners indented for. It had been a model raid.