The 25th was an eventless day for the troops of the 36th Division, but for heavy shelling, particularly of its batteries. On the right the Germans again attacked Bourlon, as it was inevitable they should, while they had a battalion to go forward or artillery to cover its advance. After hard fighting they retook it, but could not penetrate the wood, which was in fact now almost impassable, owing to the haze of the gas with which it had been drenched among the trees. The 40th Division had suffered heavy casualties, and was relieved at night by the 62nd. On the following night the 36th Division was to have taken over a wider front, extending its line to within a thousand yards of the western edge of Bourlon Wood. The 107th Brigade had suffered appreciable casualties and its troops were jaded, so the 108th Brigade was to relieve it. At the last moment, however, these orders were cancelled. The Commander of the IV. Corps decided to relieve the 36th Division by the 2nd, which had been put at his disposal, and ordered that the relief should take place that night. The Artillery, Engineers, and Pioneers were to remain at the disposal of the 2nd Division. The machine-guns were to be relieved twenty-four hours later. The night of November the 26th will remain an unpleasant memory to the survivors of the troops who were then relieved. The snow had come now, and swept almost horizontally before a wind that rose at times to tempestuous force. The relief took a very long time. When it was over, and the men staggered through the blizzard to the very indifferent havens that were to be their lodgings for the night--Beaumetz for the 108th Brigade, Doignies for the 109th, Hermies and the trenches about it for the 107th--they found this shelter, such as it was, packed with odd units. Doignies, in particular, had scarce a corner, being full of details of another Division. The besetting sin of the British Army, the accumulation of what might almost be described as camp followers, was on such occasions as these a curse. A good many men spent what was left of the night in the open, in the snow. The following day the Division, less Artillery, Engineers, and Pioneers, moved to the area Barastre-Rocquigny-Beaulencourt, where the men had at least some comfort and the chance to sleep. A day was spent here in the usual tasks of cleaning, refitting, and reorganization.