Enemy shelling of the country immediately behind a considerable part of the British front began to noticeably increase. In the Australian Corps sector in Flanders this shelling fell mainly in the Douve Valley and in the battery areas which were bombarded with gas. Large Gotha planes also bombed Bailleul along with German long range guns shelling the town and the dumps and villages behind the lines. This intensity included the use of ‘minnies’ on the front line trenches, and at La Basse Ville, where the 22nd Battalion were holding the front line, 2nd Lieut. Robbins of the 5th/22nd having only just returned with his commission from the Officers Cadet Battalion in England, was killed in action along with three other ranks.
Following the Twenty-Second 