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- 71
Prance,
Sept. 25th, 1916.
r
Well, here I am again. Guess it is shout ten days ago since I last wrote, the intervening time, or at least 8 days of it, having been spent up the line in that hell hole called the Somme,
We just arrived hack at the hasp last night, so, while not feeling in a letter writing mood, thought I’d better take advantage of our day off to write my usual ’volume’. Hardly know where to start, as I have seen so much that was entirely different to the Salient at Ypres. Just a minute while I consult my little note hook, in which I jot down any Tittle event that I think may he of
interest to you folks........Not much inspiration from it this time
so guess I’ll just trace our trip from the time we left the base here.
I was on sanitary fatigue, cleaning up the lines, when the call came in for 100 men to go up the line. This was about 11,JO and we had to fall in at noon, travelling light of course. Someone pulled a hone at this early stage, as we were sent away at 1 o’clock without any dinner, in spite of the fact that our meal was there. We were issued one slice of bread and a -piece of cheese for 24 hours rations, hardly enough for one meal. One of these days those sergeants in the pack stores are going to be told a thing or two. However, we set off in ambulances, our destination being a well known town about 20 kilometers away. Only travelled half way in the oars though, completing the rest of the journey on foot, a very popular occupation on this front. Passed through quite a few nice little towns, whose names I have jotted down in my diary, but can’t mention here. Stopped on the was and demolished the majority of our ‘'day’s rations".
Arrived in this town, which by the way has a famous leaning tower in it, about seven o’cl 00k to find that we weren’t to go up farther until the morning. Spent the evening wandering around the camp renewing my acquaintance with quite a few Victoria boysfj, or at least they came across on our draft. Turned in about nine, sixteen of us to a tent. Nearly froze, as we had no blankets,, and being last in, had to "sleep" at the door, "Dp at 4 A.M. fully dressed of course, and after a sumptuous breakfast, viz. a drink of tea, were bundled into oars, $0 of us, to go up for the big doings.
We were dumped off the cars at the remains of a village taken in the first of the"big push". Stayed there till about ten o’clock so had time to have a look over the neighborhood.
Of course, like others I had read the war correspondents accounts of the wonderful German dugouts, but had the impression that they were rather overdoing it. Have changed my mind since, after having explored a good many of them. Also I can now fully realize the gigantic magnitude of the task the British "Tommy" had to face when he drove Fritz from the trenches that he had been fortifying
Peer Mother and P a d ,-
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