The three raids of the 61st Brigade began at 11.30 P.M. under a creeping barrage; parties of the 84th and 96th Field Companies R.E., carrying mobile charges, went forward with the infantry to blow up the enemy’s dug-outs. The 11th K.R.R.C. with a party of the 83rd Field Company R.E., started at 12.30 A.M., behind a smoke-screen put up to simulate a gas cloud, and a barrage in rear of the objective. The enemy’s trenches opposite the Lens sector were in many places extremely difficult to raid. The ground between the lines was very much cut up by shell-holes and was a mass of débris. East of the Lens--Arras road not only did the ruined houses constitute a formidable obstacle in themselves, but the gaps between the ruins and the spaces inside the houses were filled with barbed wire. The enemy had a number of forward machine guns in strong concrete emplacements which were difficult to silence. During the operation a medium trench mortar bomb was seen to drop directly on to one of these emplacements without apparently making any impression on the firing of the gun. The fact that on the whole the enemy’s trench mortars and machine guns gave comparatively little trouble says a great deal for the excellent way in which our artillery and trench mortar barrages were carried out. The chief defensive work on the front to be raided by the 12th King’s was known as the Fosse St Louis, just north-west of the Green Crassier. The company of this battalion moved forward in four parties, without coming under any machine-gun fire until four minutes after zero, when the enemy opened fire from the direction of the Fosse and the Crassier. Two platoons successfully worked through the houses north of the Fosse, thoroughly bombing the cellars on their way. Their return was delayed by a trench mortar barrage, which the enemy put down on the Lens--Arras road, but they reached their own lines again at 12.15 A.M. The other two platoons attacked the northern and southern flanks of the Fosse. On the north the party was bombed from one of the houses and came under heavy machine-gun fire at point-blank range. On the south, 2nd Lieut. Hughes led his platoon most gallantly, and reached the southern face of the Fosse, where he fell riddled with bullets. Throughout the operation all ranks behaved with great courage. The losses in this battalion were ten, including one man who was seen after the party returned but was afterwards reported to be missing. It is probable that he fell during one of the attempts that were made to recover the body of 2nd Lieut. Hughes.