Apart from training in arms and discipline, the majority of the battalion were heavily engaged, under R.E. supervision, in digging or cleaning out drains and channels in rear of the line. This most necessary but unpleasant and tedious work fills the soul of the fighting man with burning indignation; and though warnings to that effect had often been uttered, it took practical experience to prove that more than half an infantryman's work consists of digging. It is curious to note that, essential as is proficiency in the use of the spade, no real instruction in the subject is ever given at Officers' or N.C.Os'. Schools, though to watch an untrained digger and a trained one working side by side is a revelation. In Major Bishop, R.E., we found a man full of knowledge and withal of consideration and tact. Everyone liked him, and while he commanded the Field Company with which we worked, though misunderstandings sometimes arose and mistakes occurred, as was inevitable, our relations with him were always most cordial, and it was with deep regret that we heard of his death at Passchendaele later in the year. His place was, luckily, filled by another good man. There is nothing particularly amusing, still less heroic, about a night working party. As soon as the light begins to fail the parties fall in, wearing gum-boots and skeleton equipment, with the rifle slung across the back. Each man carries a pick or shovel, or, if it is a wiring party, rolls of wire slung on a stick between two men. Off they go, their footsteps, owing to the rubber soles, sounding rather ghostly as they tramp along the _pavé_. Rapidly darkness falls, and, except for the subdued sound of their feet, the gentle "swish" of water in the water-bottles, and the occasional "clang" as someone stumbles and hits his spade against his rifle, there is little in their progress to attract attention. Presently the party halts, and a voice from the darkness inquires: "Is that 'A' working party, 2/6th K.L.R.?" The answer is in the affirmative, and the party is allotted its task.