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- [Centre:] 2
As a rule they are a peaceable bunch and
believe would'tn fire a shot of rifle or [artillery?]
unless we did.
The biggest [illegible] we have yet seen
occured on Christmas eve. We started in & they
replied & for about three hours it was like
hell let lose. I must not go into details because
of the Censor, nor explain the reason for it Guy
Paul & I were temporally seperated. I was on
guard at a junction of a communication trench
at the time & could see shells bursting all round:
You can hear the screech & rush as the shells go
over & it kicks up so much racket you can
hardly hear yourself speak. There was a solitary
chap in a bay near to me and I heard his
groan follow the bursting of a German shell
that struck particularly close & showered me with
dirt. Poor chap! he was a married man with
wife & kids. I suppose he is dead now! - We
[can't?] get to know. I bandaged his head with
the field dressing bandage that every man carries
in the hem of his coat & then the streacher bearers
came & with much labour got him out & took him away.
It is a hard sight to find one of our chaps,
with whom you have lived for months & were
talking to or laughing with a few moments before,
- to find him bleeding from two or three holes in
his head & lying unconcious in the mud. But
soldiers have to be callous to loosing their fellows
and one soon forgets, even the same day, almost
except [the?] poor chap laid out, be a special [illegible]
& then it is very hard indeed & affects one deeply
There was no difference in our fare for Christmas
day except the delicious milk choclate that
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