Every part of the left sector, front line, support, subsidiary, and communication trenches was heavily shelled for long periods throughout the day, while a regular box barrage was put round the detached post. Even the new drain between Irish and Cambridge was regularly bombarded. The wire in front of our trenches, never very good, was now reduced to a mass of shattered fragments, and the impression that a raid must be expected in the near future grew apace. Down to the day of the relief this extreme activity continued, and it was difficult to keep Edmeads, Wessex, and Cambridge clear of blocks. Irish was still being heavily hammered, but, except for occasional repairs to keep up appearances, we had long since ceased to use Irish as an avenue. 2nd-Lieutenants E. E. Paul and J. N. Blake were slightly wounded in Fry Pan. On the evening of June 26th the relief took place. We were fully expecting the raid, and precautions were taken accordingly to prevent any sort of congestion in communication trenches, all of which had now been accurately registered. However, it turned out a wet night and as black as pitch, and the relief was completed viâ Buterne Avenue at 12.37 a.m. without molestation. "B" Company remained in the subsidiary line. We found Armentières, as indeed we had expected, hardly less noisy than the trenches. The Rue de Lille had become more of a storm centre than previously, and the Quartermaster's staff were frequently compelled to make a hasty descent to the cellar. The battalion mess, which had been held in a magnificent house opposite, its ceilings decorated with fat cherubs flying in a bright blue sky, was abandoned, as it seemed too risky to have all the officers congregated together in such a shelled area. The usual working and wiring parties, made none the pleasanter by the double journey up the Houplines road, and the same efforts to carry out training under difficulties were resumed. On the 29th "D" Company replaced "B" in the subsidiary line. [Illustration: Official Photograph by permission of The Imperial War Museum. RUE DE LILLE, ARMENTIÈRES.]