On July 28th our spare kit was taken into store, and at 6.30 a.m. on July 29th we moved to our old billets at Ivergny, and thence at 9 a.m. the next morning to the Etrun area, which we reached at 5.15 p.m. after one hour's halt _en route_ at Lattre St. Quentin for dinner. We spent the night in a hutted camp. Here we entrained at 10.30 p.m. at Artillery Corner, and moved up by light railway to the point where the Arras--Lens railway joins the River Scarpe. Here we detrained, and proceeded to the support trenches of the Fampoux South sector, relieving the 72nd Canadian Infantry Battalion. The relief proceeded without any interruption, and was completed by 1.30 a.m. Before proceeding further, it will not be out of place to give a general description of the area in which the battalion now found itself situated. Leaving Arras to the south, the River Scarpe takes its course westwards along a plateau as far as the village of Athies, at which point it enters a valley proper, with high ground on either side. Slightly south-east from Athies a large re-entrant ran south from the river; in the mouth of this re-entrant was the village of Feuchy. Farther east down the stream, on the northern bank, the village of Fampoux covered the lower slopes of the high ground which here turned abruptly north. At this point a small triangular island, about 2,500 square yards in area, divided the Scarpe. The British line, travelling south from Lens, followed the high ground overlooking Douai to Fampoux. Here it bent sharply to the west along the north slope of the valley, crossed the river at Feuchy, and took the line of the re-entrant already referred to--a direction roughly south-west. The Brigade whilst on duty in this part of the line were responsible for the portion of it immediately north of the river, an area generally spoken of as the Fampoux sector. The three battalions of the Brigade were disposed as follows: one in the line, one in close support, and the third in reserve at Ste. Catherine, north of Arras. The left flank of the battalion in the line was marked by a communication trench, Camel Avenue, which travelled straight from our rear through the sector over to No Man's Land to the German rear. From Camel Avenue to Fampoux the front line, known as Stoke Trench, with the exception of a very slight bulge towards the enemy, ran north to south, crossing the Arras road; the front line entered Fampoux, and, passing through it, reached the river bank at the apex of the island. [Illustration: SKETCH MAP OF FAMPOUX] Fampoux, a village of fair size, was held by both sides, and as a result had few houses left standing, those to the south-west and on the island appearing to have fared the best. The main road coming from Arras passed in succession through St. Nicolas, St. Laurent-Blangy, Athies, and Fampoux; at this point it became sunken, and then carried on eastwards through the German lines into Roeux.