Each man's life depended on no more
than a fluke of luck by the throw of those dice which explode as they
fall. They knew what their job was. It was to cross five hundred yards
of open ground to capture and to hold a certain part of the German
position near the Chateau of Hooge.
They were at the apex of the triangle which made a German salient
after the ground was lost, on July 30th. On the left side of the
triangle was Zouave Wood, and Sanctuary Wood ran up the right side to
a strong fort held by the enemy and crammed with machine-guns and
every kind of bomb. The base of the upturned triangle was made by the
Menin road, to the north, beyond which lay the crater, the chateau,
and the stables.
The way that lay between the regiment and their goal was not an easy
one to pass. It was cut and crosscut by our old trenches, now held by
the enemy, who had made tangles of barbed wire in front of their
parapets, and had placed machine-guns at various points. The ground
was littered with dead bodies belonging to the battle of July 30th,
and pock-marked by deep shell-holes.
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