The artillery concentration began on the night of the 12th/13th November, when the 310th and 312th Brigades arrived in the neighbourhood of Beaulencourt; they concentrated next day at Barastre, where their wagon lines were to be during the battle. In this advance to the battle area the most elaborate precautions were taken to keep the enemy's suspicions from being awakened. All troops marched by night, and remained hidden during the day time in the various big woods, which are dotted about in this part of the country. I well remember walking over to the Corps Headquarters at Villers au Flos on the evening of the 14th; it was a pitch dark night, and I found it almost impossible to make my way along the road, which was covered along its whole length by an unbroken column of heavy guns being drawn by caterpillars--the heavy artillery concentrating for the battle. And yet next morning that same road presented its usual empty and tranquil appearance to such hostile planes as might happen to fly overhead. On the 18th, Divisional headquarters moved to Neuville. The 312th Brigade moved into their gun positions on the night of the 17th/18th, and all the rest of my command on the night of the 18th/19th, i.e. the 310th, 77th, 93rd, and 153rd Brigades. Lieut.-Colonel Lough, commanding 312th Brigade, left on the 17th, invalided home, and his successor, Lieut.-Col. A. G. Eden, joined us on the 19th. The night of the 19th was a very anxious one, and will long be remembered by all who took part in the battle. It was impossible to tell whether the enemy had any suspicions of what was in store for him; he might even know all about it, and this was the more possible, as he had made a raid two nights before the battle and had captured one or two of our men. There was a chance that he might have wormed some information out of them, for an uneducated man may often give away valuable information quite innocently, out of pure ignorance or indiscretion. If he _did_ know, the enemy might have wrecked the attack before it began, by bombarding the long line of guns, which had the most definite orders on no account to fire a round till 6.20 a.m. when the attack was to be launched. As it happened, the Boche showed great uneasiness, and fired very heavily during the night, though fortunately not on any vital places. We listened to the firing in great suspense, and watched the flashes of the shell bursting apparently very near our line of guns; but we could get no information, for no telephones were allowed until the moment of attack, lest indiscreet things might be said, and tapped by the enemy's listening apparatus.