Battalion H.Q. had a very comfortable
pitch at the top of the Wadi Reuben, near a junction of many tracks
which had been named Charing Cross.
Our week here meant another spell of steady work, as we had to convert
what had previously been a continuous line into a series of strong
posts, the intervals between which were covered by machine guns. This
was known as the Dumb-bell Hill Sector of the Sheikh Abbas Line, being
named from a hill whose contours on the map were a very fair imitation
of a dumb-bell. Here we were still facing to a flank, but our left
came up to the corner where the proper front began, which meant that
we lay enfiladed from the main front, and they used to throw over a
good deal of stuff if ever they spotted any movement.
At the beginning of May we did another move, this time on to the real
front in the Sheikh Abbas Sector. This was quite a pleasant place, as
we lived on the reverse slope of a fairly steep bank, pretty well
defiladed from all the Turk guns, and the trenches, though only in
most places a single line with quite insufficient communication
trenches, had a long view and a good field of fire. The wire was
continuous though not very thick, and it was quite safe to leave the
trenches during the day in charge of a few observation posts. Add to
this the fact that all, except the posts, could walk about during the
day in the open quite covered from view by the steep slope mentioned
above, consequently it was trench warfare under the most pleasant
possible conditions.
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