Item 04: Harry Pidcock Mason war diary, August - October 1916 - Page 9

[Page 9]

1916

Wed. Aug 23rd
We are surrounded with guns of all calibres keeping up a constant artillery fire & under the conditions we had a sleepless night

After breakfast we have orders to stand by & not leave our quarters, however after an hour nothing eventuates and we are all appointed as sanitary police to the camping areas and to see that all rubbish is burned and buried as the various units leave the grounds.

At 4 p.m. we receive orders to fall in, the cars having left we were marched off towards Albert [indecipherable] and arrived at an old foundry where we were quartered & there established a dressing station, guns are dischargeing every were here & shells arriving from Fritz per air route.

I risked a walk up the town & found it sadly smashed up since being here last.

Thurs Aug 24th
No sleep on a/c of big rats & big guns like an inferno & the rodents revilled in it like the devils pets we are doing no duty but waiting