On July 19th the battalion once more relieved the 2/7th K.L.R., "C," "B," "D," "A" being now the order in the line. The repair of the damage done by the raid, the erection of a complicated wire entanglement on the left (which was carried out, under Major H. K. Wilson's supervision, with some difficulty, owing to the heavy shelling and machine-gun fire), and the preparations for a two-company raid to be carried out under Captain Eccles, were quite sufficient to occupy our attention. In addition, one company of Portuguese was attached to us for instruction, forty men being handed over to each company. The relief of these men by another company on the night of the 20th produced rather an amusing scene. It had been arranged that the old company should not leave till the new company had arrived; but some time before the latter were due, the junction of Gloucester Avenue and the subsidiary line was packed with Portuguese, about half of whom went out on their own initiative. Suddenly the Germans opened a regular barrage of gas shells on Houplines Level Crossing, and the wind blew the gas back to our subsidiary line. The commencement of the barrage divided the relieving company into two halves, and likewise the old company, one half of whom, going back without orders, had just passed the Level Crossing. All those on the far side, relieving and relieved troops alike, hurried back to their billets in Armentières. The relieving troops, and a few others who had been stopped by the barrage, rushed into the trenches and mingled with those waiting to go out, thus producing the most complete confusion, to which the necessity of wearing small box-respirators added the finishing touch. It was a matter of no small difficulty to get them sorted out, especially as our only means of communication with the Portuguese was in bad French, and they all talked at once. However, eventually we got things straightened out somehow, and order was once more established. On July 22nd, 1917, to keep up a pretence that we were going to attack Frelinghien, a practice barrage was put down on that place at 5 p.m. At 5.30 p.m. the enemy replied with a far heavier bombardment of our left company sector, which in a few moments was entirely concealed from view by smoke and dust. A Portuguese Commanding Officer and Adjutant arrived that day for instruction, and Battalion Headquarters was the centre of quite a heavy gas shell bombardment. Fortunately, the next day all the Portuguese were removed. It was not a sector calculated to give new troops a very favourable impression of the line. During that night the battalion north of the Lys dug dummy assembly trenches opposite Frelinghien, and the following day another bombardment was carried out. A second company of 2/7th K.L.R. was now brought into the subsidiary line, partly to enable more work to be done, partly in view of the continued threatening attitude of the Germans.