I have had some experiences, but I think the saddest was the digging
out of a number of men from a kind of subterranean passage or cave,
which had fallen in and buried about thirty of the Camerons. The other
night information was brought to the camp that the Cameron Highlanders
had met with a disaster, and I was sent off immediately with a party
of our chaps to go to their assistance. We were taken to a spot on a
hillside, which reminded me of the caves of Cheddar, and which had been
shelled. The turf and earth were thrown up in all directions as the
result of a bombardment. There were several large and small caves, and
one of them had been used as a hiding-place by the Camerons. No doubt
this was spotted by the Germans, for they directed their guns on it,
and it collapsed. The poor fellows were buried underneath many tons of
earth. This happened early in the day, and although several attempts
had been made to extricate the men, very little could be done, as the
bursting of the shells on the same spot drove off the small rescue
parties. I had to leave before the work was completed, but I helped to
dig out two dead officers and several men. The position of these caves
was well known to the Germans, for they had previously occupied them,
and no doubt took a fiendish delight in smashing them up when they saw
the Camerons take shelter in them: _Sapper G. A. Bell, Royal Engineers_.