The Fifth Battalion Highland Light Infantry in the War 1914-1918 | Page 5

we could judge we were moving on a fairly defined road or
path, of uncertain surface, much cut up by traffic, and at many places
pitted with shell craters. To estimate the distance traversed was
impossible, but we must have been descending the gradual slope for
over half an hour when our guides began to exhibit symptoms of
indecision. The truth was soon out--they did not know where they
were.
We ought before this to have struck the trenches allotted to us: possibly
we had passed them in the dark. It transpired that neither Staff Officer
nor N.C.O. had even been near the spot except in daylight, but both still
professed confidence in their ability to locate the trenches. It was
explained to us that these lay between the Pink Farm Road on which
we had been moving, and the Krithia Road, which was some distance
to our right. So we turned off the road towards the right and
commenced our search.
After wandering in the rain for half an hour, we came upon what
appeared to be a wide ditch sheltered by some straggling trees. Our
guides decided that this must be a section of the elusive trenches, and at

their suggestion Major Downie and his half-company were bestowed in
it temporarily while the rest of us continued our quest for the remaining
trenches.
Our progress was frequently interrupted by flares sent up from the
trenches somewhere in front. To our inexperienced eyes it seemed that
the lights were very near us, for they showed up vividly the whole
ground over which we were moving, every little clump of scrub
standing out sharp and distinct as in the glare of a powerful searchlight.
From repeated study of Notes on Trench Warfare in France, we had
become permeated with the theory that where one's presence is
revealed by a flare, safety from rifle or machine gun fire is only to be
attained by lying down and remaining perfectly motionless. So to the
first few flares we made profound obeisances, grovelling on the wet
ground or behind the nearest patch of scrub as long as the stars
illuminated the landscape. But familiarity breeds contempt, and as we
gradually realised that the flares were much further to our front than we
had thought, the necessity for this uncomfortable performance became
less and less obvious until we discarded it altogether.
After ages of fruitless wandering we stumbled against a landmark
which our guides recognised as within a hundred yards of the long
sought trenches--a large tree marking the sight of an Artillery
Ammunition Dump known, inappropriately enough, as Trafalgar
Square. Here were one or two dug-outs in which the party in charge of
the Dump slumbered peacefully. After we had circled the tree several
times without result, the gunner N.C.O. in charge of the station was
roused and questioned. Yes, he knew where the trenches were--quite
close at hand.
With great good nature he rolled out of his blankets, and clambered out
of his subterranean shelter to find them for us. The prospect brightened
considerably, but only to become darker than ever when after a quarter
of an hour's further walking he, too, proved at fault. Then suddenly it
occurred to him that he had turned to the left on leaving his dug-out
instead of to the right, and had been leading us away from our goal.
Wearily we retraced our steps, and then finally we found the trenches.

The manner of the discovery was simplicity itself. As a matter of fact
the C.O. fell into one of them, getting rather wet and clayey in the
process.
In the meantime the second half of "A" Company had arrived on the
scene, but we now found ourselves faced by another problem--the
locating of the trench (or ditch) in which we had left Major Downie
with his half-company. This threatened to prove as hard a task as that
which we had just accomplished, and the C.O. remarked he would keep
an eye on the trench he had found lest it should attempt to disappear
again, and a party was sent off to find Major Downie.
And, after all, Major Downie found himself for us. His arrival was
almost dramatic. He, too, fell into the trench. He had heard the search
party calling for him and had come out to meet them. Missing them in
the dark he had chanced upon the trench from the front and tripped over
the parapet. With his assistance it did not take long to retrieve the
missing half-company.
Instalments of "B" Company began to arrive. Casting about to the front,
rear and flanks of our original discovery, traces of other less finished
trenches were found, and parties were set to work to complete and
extend them with the object of having some