Lying partly at the bottom of the valley and rising partly in tiers on the slopes of the surrounding hills, Combles (1,150 inhabitants, mostly engaged in silk and wool weaving) had suffered less from this fierce fighting than might have been expected. Although damaged (shattered walls, disjointed timber-work and tile-less roofs) many of its houses were still standing at the end of 1916. The village had, however, been thoroughly pillaged by the Germans, and traces of their long occupation were everywhere to be seen, including concrete shelters, strong-points, for machine-guns, underground passages, chambers, etc. [Illustration: IN THE UNDERGROUND SHELTERS OF LAMOTTE CHÂTEAU. _(German Officers' room.)_] The tunnels, excavated out of the solid rock under the Lamotte Castle, which already existed before the war, were the most important of these subterranean organisations. The Germans utilised them as posts of commandment, dressing-stations, mustering-places, etc. They were large enough to shelter several companies at a time and sufficiently deep to be proof against the heaviest projectiles. There were separate entrances and exits, ventilating shafts, electric light, etc., and they were comfortably fitted up. Beds were installed in the walls, and there were tables, chairs, armchairs, tapestries, etc.--all stolen from the houses in the village. Combles in 1918 In 1918, the British attacked the Combles positions, only after the fall of Bapaume. Gen. Rawlinson's Army remained till August 29, 1918--when Bapaume was taken--on the line reached on the 26th, which ran west of Ginchy, Guillemont and Hardecourt-aux-Bois. Resuming their advance on the 29th and pressing hard upon the heels of the retreating enemy, they carried these three villages the same day, then Maurepas, and finally Combles itself, advancing beyond in the evening. The ruin of the village was completed during these operations. Very few houses retained their four walls and roofs. Of the Town Hall a piece of broken wall only remains. The church was almost entirely destroyed, only a few fragments of the façade remain standing amid a heap of stones and rubbish. _On reaching Combles turn to the left and cross the village as far as the ruined church_, opposite which is the entrance to the underground passages and chambers of =Lamotte Castle=. The church stands at the junction of two roads. _Take the right-hand one (G.C. 20) which rises towards Guillemont village_, built on the top of a hill (altitude 462 feet). The road runs between two small woods--=Bouleaux Wood= (on the right) and =Leuze Wood= (on the left)--both cut to pieces by the shells. [Illustration: COMBLES CHURCH. _On the right: Guillemont road; on the left: impassable road to Hardecourt._]