So graphic and atmospheric is Maze's description of Boom Ravine in his book, A Frenchman in Khaki, that Maze could have been standing in front of this charcoal sketch:

"Boom Ravine was another odd place. It lay in front of Petit Mireaumont at the bottom of a long sharp slope that always struck me as an ideal place for ski-ing. Death Valley, it was called, and it lived up to its name in a mysterious way, for although it didn't look a dangerous place, death lurked everywhere....In the old barn everybody moved about knocking their rifles against the ground, challenging each other in the dark corners where the moonlight could not penetrate. We had a sentry at each entrance - one of them facing the German side; he stood for the most part hidden behind the old beams, his bayonet glinting in the dark".