The bombardment continued throughout the rest of July, for the operations originally planned to begin on the 25th were put off till the 31st. A marked feature of this period was the silence of the German guns by day, a great contrast to the continual shelling of 1916. This was the result of the very thorough counter-battery work which had been carried out in the salient by the heavy artillery, assisted by our aeroplanes. It is known that the Germans withdrew their guns by day and brought them up each night, when they shelled the whole area heavily, especially with gas. They had been engaged, when the 20th Divisional Artillery came into the line, in moving back their battery positions across the Steenbeek, and the increased activity which they showed after the 21st of July pointed to the completion of this manœuvre. The enemy’s night firing, by killing and wounding many of the drivers and horses as well as by continually breaking the Decauville railway, made the supply of ammunition exceedingly difficult, especially for the Divisional Ammunition Column, which was working day and night forming dumps in the forward area for future operations. There were considerable losses, too, among the gunners; B/92 Battery had 24 casualties in two nights, and on the 22nd had to be withdrawn from the line for a short rest. The 93rd (Army) Brigade was in the most forward position, and it had been decided to keep this as a silent brigade. Owing to the casualties incurred in the Divisional Artillery, this plan had to be abandoned on the 22nd in order to keep up the programme of night firing that had been laid down. With the exception of a few raids on the enemy’s lines, the only operation carried out before the battle began took place on the 27th, when information was received that the enemy had retired from his front line. Strong patrols sent out to verify this report crossed No Man’s Land unopposed, entered the enemy’s front line, and even pushed on beyond it. Later they met with strong resistance from numbers of the enemy concealed in large concrete dug-outs, and when reinforcements came up from the direction of Pilckem, the patrols were forced back to the original line. Prisoners stated that the enemy was much shaken by our bombardment, but had no intention of retiring on this front. Opposite Boesinghe, however, the enemy did retire, leaving in our hands both banks of the Yser Canal, which had formed till then a serious obstacle to the advance of the Allied left flank. During this time the Divisional Ammunition Column worked very hard and earned the congratulations of the C.R.A. Between the 19th and the 26th the column delivered over 35,000 rounds to the batteries, besides sending out rations, water, and large quantities of camouflage and material. In the latter half of July the casualties in the column were 3 officers, 37 other ranks, and 113 animals.