Primary tabs
Transcription
[Page 5]
fell in, & marched to the point of assembly. Went through the murky streets of a village, then along a road, & lined up in ling wet grass. Everything was quiet, & about 3.30 suddenly the barrage crashed down. The 3rd Division moved off ahead of us, they are to go 4.000 yards to dig in, then our brigade go on a further 2500 yards, & the 16th B'n will then go through us for a further 2500 yards, so it's a big affair. Well, soon after we started it felt as if the worst would happen, owing to the weather. We had hardly moved off when a heavy fog came down & it looked as if the weather would ruin all hope of success. 'Planes could not fly, the tanks would be losing their way, & troops could hardly keep in touch with each other. You could only see chaps about 5 yards away on either side, & I trembled for the 3rd Division moving into the unknown, as they could see a Fritz possy till they were right on to it. However, it would be as bad for Fritz, as he wouldn't see them till they were right on top of him. Hoping it would lift, we trudged on in the fog through grass, & occasionlly a wood or crop. Then we came to a road & were pleased to see our tanks coming along & then a cheer went up as a group of Fritz prisoners went back along the road. I saw no dead Fritzes or any signs of a struggle & it looked as if he had nicked off. At last the sun faintly appeared, & the light got brighter, we came to the 3rd Division digging in, they gave us a smile & a cheer as we moved on. Tanks were with us, & on we went down sunken roads & up steep banks, till we were clean knocked up from our long tramp with the infernal load up. Could see Fritzes running back, then I saw a couple of horses lying dead in a wagon