Item 02: Cameron Robertson war diary, 21 December 1914-16 December 1916 - Page 74

[Page 74]

21st At last it is a fine day, but how long will it last? The ground is mucky and mud is dragged into the huts. A platoon each from A & B Coy go into the front line our wagons taking them up as far as possible. Up to date we are the only transport to go so close (with wagons) to the firing line and do more work than any 4 Infantry Transports. Besides these early morning & night trips, harness & steel work has to be cleaned which is a difficult matter in such weather.
From 4 am the artillery fired intermittently, kicking up a "holy row", and each time they ceased, machine guns would roll. Dickebusch the town of which outskirts we are camped has been torn to pieces by shells and the houses present a rather dilapidated appearance. The roads are also torn up by shells but all these towns near the firing line are the same.
22nd Fine weather. Enemy aircraft active above our lines. Except for an occasional shell everything is quiet.
23rd Fine weather continues. Trip to outskirts of Dickebusch. Dead quite.
24th Good weather. Fritz's aeroplanes flew above the trenches & camps behind the line. Our anti-