Our wire entanglement was cleared by the assaulting Brigades during the days prior to the attack, the outer fringe being left till the night of the 24th-25th September. Each man of the attacking Infantry carried two sandbags and two gas helmets. The Lahore Division on the right and the Twentieth British Division on the left were to cover the flanks of our advance by fire, and after the front trenches were taken these Divisions were to send troops to hold the trenches opposite their respective fronts, and so protect our flanks in the advance beyond the German support line. The deliberate Artillery bombardment commenced on the 21st September, and the results proved generally satisfactory. By the evening of the 24th the enemy’s wire entanglements in front of their front line were reported to have been cut, with the exceptions where this could not be done owing to trees. This bombardment was accompanied by rifle, rifle-grenade, machine-gun, and trench-mortar fire from the front line, and by indirect machine-gun fire from points in rear of the front line. This fire was kept up day and night in order to prevent the enemy effecting any repairs. There was not much retaliation on the part of the Germans during the period of bombardment, and what there was did little damage and caused few casualties. Special instructions were issued to the Dehra Dun Brigade, which was in Divisional reserve. The object aimed at was to ensure this Brigade being concentrated and ready to move quickly in any direction required. From 6 P.M., 23rd September, when the Brigades commenced to move to their positions of assembly, the weather became wet and inclement. This made the trenches difficult, and by the evening of the 25th September a foot of water was standing in many of them. Part of the Brigades got into position during the day of the 24th. The smoke and gas detachments were in their places by 6 P.M., and all troops were in their positions of assembly before midnight. At 10.15 P.M. orders were received by the Meerut Division that Programme “A” was to be followed, _i.e._ the employment of gas and smoke. During the night the wind was changeable, veering round from south to south-west. About 4.40 A.M., 25th September, an enemy bomb burst in the Duck’s Bill, smashing two gas cylinders, and the officer in charge of the operations there and several of his detachment were gassed. A considerable number of men of the 1/3rd Londons, who formed the garrison of the Duck’s Bill, were also incapacitated. The mine exploded to time, and it was ascertained later that the crater formed was 92 feet across. The charge was one ton of gun-cotton.