Ash and his squad had just finished excavating a part of the former German trench and were looking for water to refill their canteens when the first shell screamed out of the night sky. This smacked into the earth with a deep whumf, and though falling some distance away, the sheer size of the explosion rattled the air in the men’s lungs. Reacting on sheer instinct, the men dropped into the trench to ride out the bombardment.
whumfThe German engineers and artillery units of IV Corps knew the location of every strongpoint and trench in their former defences, and they zeroed in on these positions with deadly accuracy. Hundreds of shells thoroughly pounded the hill, and once they felt nothing more could be achieved there, they moved their guns to the countryside surrounding the village. The h
