consisting of broad rolling downs intersected by long and broad, rather shallow valleys, with very few outstanding points or features. Such isolated features of the landscape as did strike the eye were a few partially destroyed woods and copses, sunken roads, and an occasional artificial strong point of German origin, the latter plainly marked out from the surrounding country by the white scars left by the chalky soil thrown out from dug-outs and trenches. All round such points, which had naturally been favourite targets for our own and—after they had passed into our hands—for the German artillery, the ground was pock-marked by shell-holes. Their neighbourhood was distinctly unhealthy except for the inhabitants of the dug-outs, saps, and trenches, which were the only shelters available in the vicinity. Perhaps the favourite target for the enemy's guns and the most prominent feature of all was the small conical-shaped hill known as the “Tumulus,” which stood near the fork of the Vadencourt-Bellenglise and the Vadencourt-Berthaucourt Roads. This little mound was a usual registration point for the enemy Artillery, and had been struck again and again until it stood out as a stark white landmark stripped of all its original greenery by the impact and blasting action of the shells. Here, especially, was a spot near which it was dangerous to linger—transport made their way by the hill at the trot, and no one whose business took him in the neighbourhood of the hill let the grass grow under his feet.
Certain of the strong points, such as those at Collin's Quarry and Hudson's Post, subsequently became important nodal points in the divisional system of communications, while the shelter afforded by the groups of dug-outs, in country where otherwise shelter was not, caused them to be chosen as sites for the headquarters of Brigades and
