From now on, as we penetrated farther into enemy-occupied territory, more and more of the civilian inhabitants were released. The movement of the armies began to partake more of the nature of a triumphal march, the advanced troops being everywhere received with open arms by the families released by them from a slavery which, if sometimes tempered with uncouth attempts at ingratiation, was still in the highest degree distasteful to the people of the occupied districts. One of the most dramatic sights during the advance was undoubtedly the scene when, in the midst of the fighting at Montbrehain, before even the Germans were completely driven from the town, the few remaining inhabitants, regardless of their safety in their joy at their newly regained freedom, rushed from their houses with mugs of steaming hot coffee, the only tribute an impoverished population could offer to their liberators.
Soon, the tide of battle was to sweep on beyond the ruin of their homes, and they were to be left in peace to make the best attempt they could at repairing their shell-torn houses and to eke out a slender existence on rations spared by our men, or issued by the French Mission. Of means of local subsistence there were left practically none. The German occupation and the subsequent tide of war had left the area bare of everything except a few fields of sugar-beet, and such food as isolated individuals had managed to hide away during the last few days, when the thunder of the British guns was heard approaching nearer and nearer, and the possibility of the upsetting of the German usurpers became more of a reality and less of a dream.
During the evening of October 3rd, the Division received a very large amount of attention from enemy aeroplanes. Those carried out repeated bombing attacks
