Cocks letter diary, 1916-1919 / Verner Cocks - Page 218
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[Page 218]
2.
shell the road we just passed along. Passed many civilians leaving their homes having been warned of the coming stunt. Infantry are billeted with us & all are excited over the coming events. We have the two best dugouts in the place but an infantry officer tells us we will have to shift to make room for officers. He told us we would have to spend the night on the duckboards the same as the infantry. However we didn't shift nor were we worried again so spent the night uninterrupted - I don't think. Jack & I were on gas picquet from 11 pm to 1 am - we always post a gas picquet everywhere we go - & were anxiously waiting for 3 am as we had the "dinkum" oil that that was zero time. Towards the end of our shift Fritz started putting over gas shells. He must have had "the wind up" - to use a common expression meaning nervous - as our artillery was silent. From then onwards we were wearing our masks although the shell gas was only lacrymatory (tear). Later he sent over cloud gas & caught some of our men. We did what we could for them - not much, as much can't be done, got them away on stretchers. They were not serious and many of us got sniffs which took no effect.
7th June.
At 3 am precisely three mines were fired under ... Our dugouts fairly rocked & we ran out into the trenches, thinking that the earth was falling in, in time to see a big red flare & enormous cloud of smoke & earth spout skywards in the direction of .... Almost simultaneously the guns burst forth in pandemonium of shrieks & screams as the shells sped on their deadly errand. The noise was not as great as we expected as we were just outside the real objective. Fritz did not take long to