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[Page 30]
August 1916
"A" Coy to relieved "D" Coy of the Fourth Battalion in the firing line. We started about 2am & No 1 platoon lead off first & I was detailed to stay at the end of the company & when we reached the end of the communication trench we had about a quarter of a mile of open country to cross to get to the firing line & over a big ridge & as soon as a man would make a run Fritz would open up with his small artillery & many of our boys were buried wounded & killed in the attempt of getting across the open country. I was near the end & just as I started to move across the open country it began to rain & as the ground was of a very clayey nature it made progress very slow & by the time I had cover half the distance I was completely beaten & had to take shelter behind an old piece of trench which proved good cover for the few minutes spell. On reaching the line I found it a narrow trench about shoulder high & had been filled in in places by artillery & all that night I had to do my share widening & deepening the trench & at day break we had the first glimpse of the landscape in front of us & there was not Alien trench opposite our front & the enemy was