Note 2 — Chapter X

It was on August 1st that the enemy carried out a severe bombardment of a location known as "Ration Farm," opposite Messines, which drove the men of Major Hesketh's squadron of Strathcona's Horse, who were in reserve, into their dug-outs. The farm was hit repeatedly, and suddenly sounds as of heavy machine-gun fire were heard coming from the midst of the shattered buildings. Major Hesketh left his dug-out and entered the farm to investigate. He saw that the magazine, containing 100,000 rounds of ammunition with the reserve supply of bombs and grenades, had been pierced and set on fire by a high explosive shell. In spite of the fact that the position was still under persistent shell fire, that the small-arms ammunition was exploding rapidly under the influence of the heat, and that the entire contents of the magazine was likely to explode at any moment, Major Hesketh fought the fire with sacks and extinguished it.