Item 01: Leslie Kemnitz Stuart diary, 18 March 1915-4 March 1916 - Page 265
Primary tabs
Transcription
[Page 265]
Thursday 26 August, 1915
Have had a hot time with shrapnel in the morning. I went to the beach for a swim in the morning, was shelled there & all the afternoon until dark they peppered our trenches with them we had surprisingly few casualties. At 7.30 we had to change our position. 14 of us were separated from the rest & had to sleep out amongst the stray bullets. It is pretty nerveracking for bullets to snick into the ground within a few feet of you, coming apparently from nowhere. We have had a bad time so far, our battallion has lost about 50 men & have not had a chance to fire a shot.
Moving with the machine guns is no joke, all gear & ammunition is carried by hand. I often wonder if they made a mistake in my papers & think I signed on as a carthorse.