It must, however, have been displeasing to the Germans to observe how swiftly every balloon burnt by them was replaced. The German infantry, it must be added, was entirely unaggressive, nor was it easy to locate its positions. It held the ground west of the Canal d'Ypres with isolated posts, and made no effort to improve the half-dug trenches already existing. All labour was concentrated upon the positions east of the Canal. On the 29th a welcome relief of the 36th by the 37th Division took place. On the following day the G.O.C. 37th Division took over command of the front, the whole of the 36th Division, less Artillery, Engineers, and Pioneers, moving to the Merris area. The Headquarters of the Division and that of the 108th Brigade were in that village; the 107th Brigade at Outtersteene, and the 109th at Strazeele. The batteries, which had withdrawn to their forward wagon-lines for rest on the 19th, had returned to the line by the 27th in relief of the 11th Divisional Artillery, and remained there till July the 5th, under heavy hostile shelling, in indifferent weather with poor visibility. The Pioneers and Field Companies had but a day's rest before being moved to the Salient to begin new work. The first week of July was given to rest and training at Merris. [Illustration: Map II. The Battle of Messines, 1917.] FOOTNOTES: [31] The boundaries of the 36th Division, the successive objectives, and all the names used in the following description are shown on Map II. [32] The 32nd, half of the 33rd Machine-Gun Companies, and the 19th Motor Machine-Gun Battery, were at the disposal of the 36th Division for the attack. [33] _i.e._, four Tanks. [34] One officer records that, two evenings before the attack, he played bridge in the open air till midnight. [35] Our own Vickers gun teams had dropped behind the infantry here. Vickers guns, tripods, and belt boxes are very heavy loads on ground cut to pieces by shell-fire. [36] _The 25th Division in France and Flanders._ By Lieut.-Colonel M. Kincaid-Smith. CHAPTER VI THE BATTLE OF LANGEMARCK: AUGUST 1917