The whole of the country round Ypres is overlooked by the ridge which runs up from Messines and Wytschaete, passing east of Hooge and Zonnebeke to Passchendaele. The British line until the 7th of June lay in a semicircle round Ypres at a general distance of 4000 yards from the town, following the foot of the high ground as far as Sanctuary Wood south of Hooge. From this point, while the main ridge continues north-east, the line curved in a general north-westerly direction past Wieltje to Boesinghe, but was still overlooked by the German positions on the long spur which extends as far as Pilckem. On the 7th of June the very successful battle of Messines gained the whole of the southern part of the ridge as far as a point about a mile south of Hooge. The object of the operations which began at the end of July was to extend this success and to push forward our lines east and north of Ypres so as to embrace the whole of the high ground which at present dominated our position in the salient. On the front of the XIVth Corps this meant an advance north-east, of which the first stage was to be the capture of Pilckem Ridge and the ground as far as the Steenbeek. The Divisional Artillery covered the right sector of the XIVth Corps front, occupied till the beginning of July by the 29th Division, and after that by the 38th. The line, which extended from a point opposite Krupp Farm to the canal bank just short of the railway, was little changed since the 20th Division had held it in the spring of 1916. It had been pushed forward and straightened at certain points, and to the left of this sector the British had taken over a further stretch of 1500 yards along the canal, but the general situation of the trenches remained the same. The conditions, on the other hand, had been very greatly improved. Many miles of new tram lines had been laid, so that nearly every battery had a line running to within a hundred yards of the gun positions, and a large number of ammunition dumps had been formed. The flatness of the country made it impossible to get complete flash cover for all guns. Camouflage screens, however, had been erected all along the front, and with the natural cover afforded by numerous small copses and farms, most batteries were able to obtain fair flash cover. The Divisional Artillery had to occupy entirely new positions; these were reconnoitred on the 13th; work was begun on them that night, and on the 14th, 15th and 16th the batteries came into action and took their part in the preliminary bombardment. The divisions detailed to carry out the attack in the XIVth Corps were the 38th on the right and the Guards on the left; the 29th Division was in reserve behind the Guards, and the 20th was to arrive in this area in time to come into reserve behind the 38th.