The fighting east of Festubert had been full of incidents which furnished us with useful material for future operations. The German strength directly opposite the Corps at this time may be taken at about 20,000 Infantry in addition to Pioneers, and an unknown number of guns of all calibres. Ours should have been near that same number, but was, owing to heavy casualties without replacements on any but a nominal scale, very much less. What was found was that the enemy had already achieved great skill in sapping up to our lines, and in this respect was infinitely superior. Having completed his saps, and aided by grenades and trench mortars, there was nothing to prevent his capturing our first lines of trenches, nor for long after this time were we able to employ his methods. The time came when the tables were turned; but you cannot reach the skies while your feet are still on the earth, and ours were deep in the Flanders mud. We also found that it makes for efficiency to have British troops interspersed with the Indians. In this case only on the extreme right was there half a Highland battalion, and on the extreme left one company of an Irish regiment. But whatever we may have learned, the Huns discovered that the Indian Corps could give back all and more than it got, and we braced ourselves up in the certain belief that although England had been sadly behind in providing us with the means of paying back the enemy in his own coin, she would assuredly make up way, and then would come our turn. I often said all this to the Indian officers and men, and it cheered them; they knew our real strength; they began to realise that we had been caught tripping; and from surprise at first that this should ever have been possible, they gradually became sarcastic at the expense of the Huns. One Jawan (young fellow) even declared that if the Germans would exchange weapons the war would be over in a week. “Not if we kept them as clean as you do,” remarked a comrade, and all laughed. I discovered our recruit had been reprimanded that morning for having a dirty rifle on parade.