Primary tabs
Transcription
[Page 18]
lot of swearing we got away at 1 or 2 A.M. on the 25/8/16 and arrived at Popperinge (Belgium) about 10 a.m. Then we had to march 3 miles to Errie camp. Where we were sent to our respective Btns. I was sent back to my old Platoon in C. Coy. And the boys gave me a cheer as I walked in the hut. And the general cry was why you didnt work your head and get to England. On the 26/8/16 I had to settle down to the Btn work again and we had some new Officers and by there talk you would think they had been soldiers all their lives. But as soon as word got around that we were going into the line they got sick or went to a school anywhere to dodge the firing line. So I stopped there till the 31/8/16 when I with more had to go to the line to take over the dugouts for the Btn. There was 4 of us 1 for each Coy. We had to walk about 2 miles to the railway where we entrained for Epreys [Ypres] there we had about 3 miles to go to the trenches. But as it is the usual thing to get lost we went about 4 miles out of our way and we got there at 12.30 A.M. next morning 1/9/16. As we had nothing to do untill night we had a good lay in they were the best dugouts I had seen in France or Belgium except the German ones these would hold about 30 men and have plenty of room. So about 3pm the 4 of us went down to Epreys [Ypres] and had a good look around it. Went to the famous Cloth Hall was but it is just a heap of ruins now if fact there is not a house in the whole town has not got a sound house left in it now. I was told that before the war it had a population of 8000. And the electric trams were in the streets all smashed up the town is nothing but a heap of bricks and timber we went to the railway and met the Btn and took them to the suport trenchs.
On the 2/9/16 I was detailed of for gaurd to Brigade Head Quarters with 5 others and during the night we had 4 gas alarms. But no 3/9/16 was dismissed of Gaurd at 5.30 P.M. then had to go to the front line with the rest of the Coy and dig a comunication trench and returned our place of abode at 3 a.m. and it was raining and very cold and on the 4/9/16 we was on the same job this work always had to be done at night but we did not sleep all day for in the day time would be filling sand bags from dinner time to 4 or 5 pm. On this night the Huns shelled us but we lost no men. But the 2nd Btn lost some. On the 5/9/16 we was doing the same job but I and 3 more dodged off home we could not see the joke of digging a trench out and Fritz filling it in again next day. On the 6/9/16 we had to move a few yards nearer the front line to the railway dugouts then had to go on fatigue work carrying timber to the Canadian miners on hill 60 got back at midnight. We was doing all such work as this untill the 10/9/16 when we was moved into the firing line then each platoon as its own section to look after so the platoon is [t]sold off in 4 sections and we do sentry go 2 hours on and 4 off but we cant go away from the trench and this place known as Tarras hall there was about a dozen of us and we had about 30 feet of trench to eat sleep and live in and if you did not get your feet wet you should be damn lucky on the morning of 11/9/16 I had done my 2 hours watch and was just dozing off when Sgt Barwick woke me up and said there is a Hun in nomans land so we armed ourselves with bombs and rifles and out we went we told the machine gunners so they would not fire on us. But when we got out