Item 05: Fred Harold Tomlins war diary, 19 March-15 August 1916 - Page 182

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[Page 182]

sank well into the sand before exploding they made big holes & knocked scores of men down from the shock but hit no one about midday they were falling within a few feet of us & my body was paralysed at times from the explosions; The Turks were bringing up large bodies of reinforcements all day & at 4 oclock we commenced to retire, & it was a case of every man mount & get away as fast as possible from the shell fire which was deadly

as soon as we got out of the danger zone we rallied together & took up a position on a ridge & covered the retreat of the last men to leave the front ridge, & we were a hungry, thirsty lot when we arrived at Debabis at 8 oclock, we watered our horses, & drank a good deal of salt water ourselves which made us worse than ever, & at 10

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