Item 01: Clifford M. Geddes diary, 31 March-1 August 1918 - Page 152
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[Page 152]
the only one left in my section, & I had a Tommy cooker & tin of cocoa & milk, & we soon boiled some water in the trench & had a nice hot drink of cocoa. Vaire Wood is behind our line now, & it is now very thin & the trees bare from the continual shelling. I found a Fritz pocket book containing note book, post cards, letters, German little printed books, photos, & c. The name of the previous owner was Wilhelm Kulka., 4 Komp. Inftr. Regt. 13 The letters were not a week old, were dated 26 June & 27 June from Essen, & a postcard from Mulheim 26 June, wish I could read German. Our company had to carry the rations tonight for the battalion. I had 10 men, & had to carry to B Coy. in the front line. I went along the trench to the C.S.M. at 10 p.m., & the different parties were just being sent off under a corporal, when I had the narrowest escape any man could well have. The bullets from a German machine gun away in the distance suddenly swished along, & one with a loud whack thumped me on the steel helmet at the back of the skull. It dented the hat making a big hollow, but didn't pierce it, & I was unharmed, only the weight of the blow on the steel hat making my head ache the