—— An ‘Invitation’ ——141Nazi helmets that were sticking up. The bursting battalion and
regimental mortars caused confusion in the German trenches and
threw up an impenetrable screen of earth and dust. The dreadful
howls of wounded Nazis could be heard. Under cover of this screen
I made it back at the double to our own forces. Within a minute
or two I was already being hugged by my friends. A prisoner,
soon captured by our scouts, confirmed under interrogation that
the operation had been calculated correctly; on that memorable
evening the Germans lost several dozen men. We did not receive
any further invitations from the Germans.