The country had seen no war, houses were intact, inhabitants looking starved and downtrodden were delighted to see the British troops.

To stop our advance all roads in Bohain had been cratered at their exits from the village, and delay-action mines on the railways were constantly going up.

As an example, D.H.Q.was in Brancucourt Farm, in a main road which had been cratered just outside the farm.

A railway bridge just opposite had been blown down and the line cratered.

The Canadian Engineers repairing the line had removed a great many bombs, but about three days after the arrival of D.H.Q.a delay-action mine went off on the railway at 7.30 p.m., and two days later again at 7 a.m.