On September 26 and 27 the Division took over the coastal sector of the Nieuport front, relieving the 66th Division, composed of the second line of the East Lancashire Territorials. The relief was therefore a hurried family gathering, a meeting of elder and younger brothers. The first-line and second-line battalions were keenly interested in each other’s doings and experiences. Friends met friends; many were related; more had friends and acquaintances in common; so they “swapped lies,” and the time was all too short to exhaust the store of anecdote, reminiscence, and inquiry. The 66th Division left for Ypres, and a fortnight later “made good” in the advance at Passchendaele. D.H.Q. was at La Panne, a picturesque seaside village. The billets were very good, and for the first time since the Division’s arrival in France the excitement of shopping was experienced. The sea-bathing was excellent, and the Belgian Army baths (in a theatre) were well patronized. The Division now held the left of the Allied Line, Barrel Post, on the seashore at the mouth of the Yser, being the extreme left post. On October 1 Major-General Mitford proceeded to England on leave, and temporary command was assumed by Brig.-General W. W. Seymour. Nothing of importance occurred here, and on October 7 the Division was relieved by the 41st Division, and took over the neighbouring divisional front from the 32nd Division. The new sector included the town of Nieuport with the Lombartzyde and St. Georges sub-sectors. Belgian troops were on the right. The Nieuport sector was a curious one, and those who had expected a comparatively “cushy” time were disappointed. The town itself had ceased to exist, for it had never a day’s immunity from the enemy artillery, and the bombing was hardly less continuous. It was also heavily gassed, the place being filled with gas on most nights. Here the large Gotha bombing-planes were first sighted, going to or returning from Dunkirk, where bombs had been dropped during twenty-three of the thirty nights of September, the enemy pilots being greatly assisted by the guiding lines of the canals and coast. The strained look, the expression of dull despair, on the faces of the war-harassed peasantry of all the devastated areas of France and Belgium, was particularly noticeable in this region. Nieuport had been very thoroughly tunnelled by the French during their occupation, and though at first the low, slimy, and very dark tunnels were distinctly unpopular, all ranks were thankful for them as they became more intimate with the situation. The tunnels, running parallel to the streets, had been made by connecting up the cellars. They were—at times—lighted by electric lights, but even then fully equipped troops found difficulty in passing through. [Sidenote: _Canals, Bridges, and Floods_]