Cocks letter diary, 1916-1919 / Verner Cocks - Page 421
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[Page 421]
4.
A tank ran over a wire on a road & went up. The engineers examine all dugouts & search captured territory for their traps. One has to very careful what to touch. We walked into a dugout apparently wired. There was a heap of bricks in the centre of the floor from which two wires led to a bayonet stuck in the floor. From the roof dangled a piece of stone tied to a wire. It looked suspicious & no one was game to pull the bayonet out or swing the pendulum. We avoid all wires in dugouts. It is a good stunt when you wait to reserve a good dugout to put a notice on the door that it is mined. One day passing through a town we walked right into an official photograph - a lne of stretcher bearers carrying stretchers passing a church with a big red cross passing painted on the roof - so keep your eye open for it in the mail. We went into the church. It certainly appeared that the place was at one time used as a hospital but it was in a filthy condition. A dead German was lying in the doorway.
We passed through many villages on our way. At one time the doctor led some of