noon
McMahon , accompanied by an orderly , marched in the rear and complained greatly of the dust . A Brigadier appeared in a motor and cast a critical eye on the men . Two officers in staff caps , understood to be umpires , rode by . At noon , the heat being then very great , a motor cyclist dashed up , his machine snorting horribly , the man himself plastered with dust , sweat and oil . He announced that the battalion was under heavy fire from the enemy artillery and that men were falling fast . The Brigadier had sent an urgent message to that effect . The Colonel , who rather expected that something of the sort would occur , gave the orders necessary in such a situation .