Brewster 'A Glimpse of War through a Private's Eyes', a retrospective account of experiences in World War I, 1915-1917 / John James Brewster - Page 175
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[Page 175]
quietly pass the coming winter.
No man "Standing To" on that memorable night of 19th July 1916 will ever be likely to forget his experience.
The whole atmosphere seemed to be torn by the passage of thousands of missles screeching through it every second from the boom of the very heavy guns down to the "crack" of Rifle bullet. The air was filled at the one time with the screech of every one. The innumerable flares, signals, & floating lights turned night into day.
Chemical Shells were hurled across, one of which in striking an old building like a Cookhouse set it alight with a peculiar fire, that it lighted up the Country with a ghostly brilliance, which at first rather scared a party of men who were detailed to extinguish it. As soon as they raised their shovels to beat it out, the Chemical appeared to be of some phosphoresent kind, for the fire attached itself to the shovels & set alight everything they touched even the very ground.
The fire did not burn like an ordinary blaze but presented an apparently steady transparent flame or glow. It was so uncanny "that some of the men were about to retire when it was found that by throwing quantities of wet mud upon it the glow or flame could be subdued. Luckily none of those working came personally into touch with it. The view presented by the "Clouds" from the bursting shells was simply awful, while the very earth was in a constant tremour from the continual concussion of high explosives.
The men taking refuge in the "dug out" were in constant terror of being buried alive as the dug out was kept in a state of never ceasing rocking & whenever a large shell burst close, the men inside with wide staring eyes, would fearfully watch the beams & supports to see if they were about to fall bodily & crush them.
Even an aeroplane flying overhead was dropping what appeared to be aerial torpedoes for portion of one "the screw", was secured by one of the men, having after the explosion dropped near his feet.