Item 04: James I. Marshall diary, 24 November-12 December 1916 - Page 60

[Page 60]

all more or less destroyed by the bombardment – of British artillery. Such is the fortune of war, though I cannot understand it, for flying from the church tower was the little white flag usually put up to shew the presence of civilians. Certainly at the beginning of the Allies' approach the Germans had guns behind the Church but they were soon shifted.

Another thing noticed, in the Church yard, – was the grave of 8 unknown English soldiers killed in 1914, with a neat stone border & marble headstone and well trimmed shrubs growing on it, erected by the Huns.

In our billet every morning at 6.30 the old lady came in and got the fire going, leaving a pot of coffee there, and a tray of cups on the table. Also, on several occasions during our stay, she cooked us a dish of potatoes, which they had been obliged to dig during the night and hide away in a hole while the Germans were there.

After a thoroughly enjoyable stay we moved on to Boulogne sur Helpe