At 6.30 p.m. the transport and rear headquarters arrived, and Lieutenant Drewsen was dispatched to reconnoitre the bridges to the north. He returned with a full description of the destructive thoroughness of the enemy. About three bridges out of some fourteen could be crossed by one man at a time with difficulty; the rest were beyond hope. At 7.15 a.m. the next morning orders were issued for the Brigade to support the right and left flanks of the 74th and 59th Divisions, who had moved round Lille from the north and south respectively, and whose inner flanks were not yet in touch. It appeared that the enemy, who had evacuated Lille in the early hours of the previous morning, was retiring on the Scheldt, and fighting a rearguard action as he went. The 8th K.L.R., who had followed behind the 2/7th K.L.R. and ourselves in our joint march on Lille, were now to lead the Brigade; and about 8 a.m. they crossed the remains of the Pont de Canteleu and set off round the southern outskirts of Lille. Fearing that it might be difficult to recross the moat on the other side of Lille, we moved down towards Haubourdin, where there was rumoured to be a pontoon bridge. The transport was to follow. The route, which lay through endless wrecked factories, derelict railway lines, and narrow back streets, was somewhat confusing, but in the end the bridge was found and the battalion passed over. After crossing at Haubourdin we moved round towards Ronchin, viâ the Faubourg des Postes, receiving everywhere a most enthusiastic greeting from the populace. From the neighbourhood of Ronchin we proceeded to Hallemes, where we settled down on a German aerodrome for a good halt for dinner. The day was fine and warm, but the quantity of _pavé_ made marching hard work. After a dinner halt we pushed on again towards Flers, there being a distressing lack of either orders or information. On another aerodrome just south of the village we found the Acting Commanding Officer of the Irish, also suffering from the same lack of instructions as ourselves. The Germans took this opportunity to send over some stray "whizz-bangs," but they did no damage, though as a precaution we spread out the battalion into artillery formation. A council of war was held, and the Irish decided to move on to Annappes, and we to billet in Flers, which after a march of thirteen miles we were quite ready to do. We noticed that the enemy shelled the former place quite stiffly as the Irish moved in, but the firing soon subsided. Runners were now sent to collect the transport, which in due course arrived, as also the Brigadier. The inhabitants of Flers were most friendly, and regaled us with stories of their late masters; and one heard with some misgiving that the bed allotted to "Monsieur le Capitaine" had been occupied by a German as late as 7 a.m. that morning. However, a bed is a bed, when all is said and done, and not a thing to be sneezed at when you are campaigning.