Item 01: Frank Hurley war diary, 21 August-28 October 1917 - Page 50
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[Page 50]
the roof as be gaping walls. But most regrettable of all is the ruin of the famous Cloth Hall. This magnificent old church is now a remnant of torn walls & rubbish. The fine tower is a pitiable apology of a brick dump, scarred & riddled with shell holes. Its beautifully carved facades are "small-poxed" with shell splinters, not a vestige of the carving having escaped. The figures are headless &: the wonderful columns &: carved pillars lay like fallen giants across the mangled remnants of roofs &: other superstructures. Oh! its too terrible for words.
Returning to the car In the evening over the shell-cratered roads we came upon an enormous crater, - God knows what did it, but pacing round the lip it measured 75 yards round, its depth about 25 to 30 feet! I Then we came to a tiny courtyard, which had escaped for some time the ravages of