Lewis war diary, August 1917-March 1919 / James Ray Lewis - Page 91
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[Page 91]
throwing a shell about every quarter of an hour into Amiens. One would hear it whine away overhead and whee-ee-eek and then a cloud of dust would rise up in the city and a half a minute later a crash would be heard. Where we were, was on an upland overlooking Amiens and a pretty sight it was, the country gently sloping away in grassy and wheat fields to the valley, and in the valley houses peeping through the trees here there and everywhere. High above all stood the Cathedral offering a splendid mark for Fritz. It looked like a fairy picture and hinted at nothing of the desolation within.
At Glisy on the railway was a French 13 inch gun, which used to fire mostly about dinner or tea time. One would see the old French soldiers in their skyblue uniforms, trundling across from the village, and soon there would be a crash and a column of yellow smoke would mount in the air, and one would hear whee-s-k away into the distance, 3 or 4 shots and then the frenchmen come trotting back to the village.
Some of our men use a bent needle on a string to catch little fish in the lagoons some use bombs with more destruction and telling effect. The French soldiers catch very nice fish with a rod and line.