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[Page 49]
that not only the light was wrong (that I'd expected) hut the sun had drawn up such a haze that all my subject was mist silhouetted! I groaned and came back and did a little study of a field telephonist's post - the dug-out in which I lodge. This afternoon the men are out reaping - with sickles-and the sky is dull as ditchwater. If my work satisfies them enough by the middle of August I'll get my comm. I see the Americans have done well again; good luck to them. The frogs too, are giving Jerry "what for".
"Their souls shall learn the sadness of our might:
"And be among our cloudy trophies hung."
Bois d'Ecardonneuse
19/7/18
You know just as much as I do about the magnificent deeds of the French helped by the Yanks who persist in justifying our most sanguine propehcies as to their capabilities. It's possible that the Hun has never had a worse clout from the moral point of view, for to have his offensive turn out so disastrously is worse than if the defeat had come to him as the result of a French offensive. May this be the beginning of an interminable series of defeats until he is pulped into submission. All this morning I have been drawing on a new, big canvas, overlooking the wood where the big French gun is. The subject is a bit panoramic and I work from the yet unused system of trenches that I'm sure will never be used. The spot is 1/4 of a mile South of our camp and well clear of our wood. An officer told me that recently a Hun airman (probably disappointed in his day's efforts) swooped down on a solitary horseman and machine-gunned him. He made his way wounded into our camp, blessing all Huns with a ready and forcible tongue. It poured all the afternoon but cleared up enough by night for the Boche to come over and do his bombing. I had had indigestion so didn't get to sleep till after 2 a.m. Until then and later when I woke at 4 a.m. endless procession of tanks, and tractors, pulling heavy guns went clanking along the road. Let's hope that whatever it was it will result in bringing calamity to the Huns. This morning has been gusty and squally so I have been lying in my dug-out. If there's