Item 05: Walter Bruce Rainsford diary, 1 January-31 December 1918 - Page 69

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[Page 69]

fine chateau at Les Alencons. Incidentally we went through Amiens. And what a change! No longer is it the busy, prosperous town of yore – a city of the dead. We traversed street after street entirely deserted save for a few odd British & French military policemen and 2 or 3 old civilians. The place has been heavily shelled & bombed and numerous houses are in ruins or have been damaged by shellfire. The Cathedral has not escaped; a shell having gone through the roof. The place has quite a depressing effect on one – a great city deserted by its population of many thousands. Will it follow the fate of Rheims? I hope not. About a dozen shells fell in the town this morning, killing a couple of tommies.

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