Item 01: Clifford M. Geddes diary, 31 March-1 August 1918 - Page 60

[Page 60]

difficulties, our hands were very muddy, but we extracted some bully beef, bread & cheese from our tucker bags, & then commenced to try & sleep. For a start the chats were biting me, I've had these clothes on for over a month, then it was pretty cold on the clay floor of the trench, & aeroplanes were droning overhead, not to mention shells. What a life , eh! I'd give many quidlets now to be back in Sydney harbour. Seven of our 'planes were circling about on high. In spite of the shells, the skylarks sing their sweet music up in the air, like canaries. Fritz gave me a nasty feeling by sending over shells that we'd hear coming & burst after passing our trench, others would drop nearer, & each time you think "Where will the next drop?". I sat huddled in the bottom of the trench, & wrote up this diary. Near where the dead Germans are, there are rolls of knitting wool & I saw a new pair of women's stockings not yet used, evidently Fritz helped himself in the deserted village. Slept off & on during the day, aeroplanes were flying about all the time, & Fritz poured his shells in the deserted town, he gave us a very nasty five minutes by dropping several just over our trench. At 8 pm we carried new cardigans, that were taken from one of the mills in the village, up to A, B & C Coys