Now that most of the cylinders were empty we paid less regard to the enemy, and determined to try to damp the ardour of the sniper, who had already shot two of our men through the head. Every effort from the front line to spot the fellow had failed, but the observation post in the support line had detected him, though the distance from there to the Germans made it futile to try a shot with a rifle. Major Brookes's assistance was accordingly invoked. A telephone line was run out to the observation post, and a trial round was fired with an 18-pounder. This was sufficiently near for the purpose, but unfortunately was too much for the sniper, who promptly retired. However, a few rounds of "battery fire" were delivered, and the area in the immediate neighbourhood of the sniper's lair was greatly disturbed. We knew he was not hit, but _he_ knew that we had spotted him, and from that moment his activities ceased. [Illustration: Photo by Gale & Polden Ltd., Aldershot. THE OFFICERS-WOKING, FEBRUARY, 1917.] The next day, April 30th, a great aeroplane fight took place high over our line. The day was perfect, and it was a wonderful sight to see the aeroplanes twisting and doubling and hear the thin rattle of their machine guns. Suddenly one of the enemy's machines commenced to fall, with a tell-tale streak of smoke trailing behind him. In a moment the grey smoke became a vivid red, and the burning machine came roaring down, crackling and spluttering as the ammunition went off in the flames. For a few minutes it seemed that it must come down right on the top of Battalion Headquarters, but eventually it crashed about two hundred yards away on the open stretch between Battalion Headquarters and Spain Avenue. Both the occupants must have been dead before the machine reached the ground; the pilot was burned beyond recognition in the machine; the observer, an artillery officer, fell out about fifty feet from the ground, and among his papers we found a secret correction card for artillery shooting with aeroplane observation. All attempts to salve anything from the machine proved fruitless. It burned and smouldered for more than twenty-four hours, and its proximity was rendered dangerous by the exploding ammunition. The question of our billets now began to exercise our minds. The 2/7th K.L.R., in spite of remonstrances, had been located at first in a row of houses close to the Houplines Level Crossing. In that position they had been continually shelled, and the powers that be had finally decided to move them back to a more salubrious locality. This we were very glad to hear, because, other things being equal, billets that are not regular targets for enemy artillery are distinctly preferable. Casualties in billets are always more trying than elsewhere, as they generally seem so gratuitous.