eventually shelled out, & had to retire – this uncovered the left of the 8th Brigade, and the Germans poured down from the Menin Road to the south and cut off some of the 4th Gordons who had penetrated the German second line [and this – crossed out] The Royal Scots had then to fall back as their left was in the air, and this necessitated the retirement of the Royal Scots Fusiliers We were now back in our original trenches by about 3.30pm bombing had been going on pretty well incessantly the whole time, & thousands of hand grenades were used. The German shelling was particularly heavy on Sanctuary Wood most of the day, and our Head Quarters at Maple Copse had one or two fairly narrow escapes as 5" Howitzers & Field Gun shell were fired into the wood the whole day.