There'll be a couple of battalions or more on the top of the cliff
in an hour or two's time.'
'Then why don't we shove along and take up our position on the top?'
'We're not strong enough yet. We must wait for reinforcements. If I'm not
mistaken the next orders will be to dig ourselves in.'
'But we are dug in. We hold the trench.'
'Fat lot of use that is in its present condition. All the earthworks are
on the seaward side. We have little or no protection on the land side.
'Ah, I thought so,' he continued, as the voice of Sergeant O'Brien made
itself heard.
'Dig, lads! dig! Make yourselves some head cover. They'll be turning guns
on us an' blowing blazes out of us as soon as the day dawns.'
Blown and weary as they were, the men set to work at once with their
entrenching spades. It was in Egypt they had learnt the art of
trench-making, but they found this rocky clay very different stuff to
shift from desert sand.
The order came none too soon, for in a very few minutes snipers got to
work again.
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