The Germans put over a barrage of gas-shells even more intense than that the 22nd Battalion suffered in the Aubigny system. From 10pm till early morning on the 23rd thousands of yellow-cross gas-shells fell in the ruins and the gas was blown back over the ration dumps and the Battalion Headquarters. Elaborate precautions enabled the casualties to be kept to about fifty. The other battalions in the Brigade and all units in the vicinity of Villers-Bretonneux suffered much more heavily. At this time most of the other casualties resulted from machine-gun fire, though every afternoon the left company sector was intensely bombarded. It was a stray bullet which killed Lieut. Swanton at his post.
Following the Twenty-Second 