Item 01: T. J. Cleary diary, 8 March 1916 - 15 August 1917 - Page 66
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[Page 66]
wire to enable their comrades to pass. the 6 officers were all put out of action the casualties of the men were heavy they reckon they killed 51 Germans & brought back 16 prisoners.
Sunday 23-7-16
This Etaples is as dirty as Boulogne men urinate anywhere at all. There is apparently no drainage system, streets narrow paved with cobbles tortuous Houses old, often askew & all kinds of Architecture. Attended Church parade there today at an old Norman Church built by the British in 1432. I heard that the trenches at Armentierres are very shallow and practically all parapet. Because the water lies so near the surface. The gas used by the Germans poisons exposed food and cigarettes also. It also colours metal facings & I notice that the wearers don't take pains to remove the discolouration. When the miners Battalion arrived in the Trenches the Germans put up a sign saying "Miners you have got 2 months to live". The french often plough up to within 1000 yds of the Trenches.
Tuesday 25-7-16
We are (70) to move on up the line through the night