Item 01: James William Dains diary, 21 November 1916-4 June 1917 - Page 98

[Page 98]

Artillery activity has been livelier lately. The Bosh replies pretty freely. He exploded a big dump about ¾ of a mile from here & the explosion was terrific scattering dust & shell casing for a great distance & occasionally he gets our guns, which is only to be expected. The surprise is that he does not get many more than he does they are so thick & often only a thin camouflage covers a six inch Howitzer. You imagine at other times you are approaching an ordinary Haystack when suddenly it sends out a deafening report. It is a battery.
The fields around Batterys that he has discovered are honeycomed with huge shell holes. One I saw measured about 20 feet across & was 12 feet deep, a huge thing. Houses tumble like a house of cards when one falls in it.