Item 01: William Sparkes diary, 9 June 1915-5 January 1916 - Page 25
Primary tabs
Transcription
[Page 25]
An incident which was very amusing occurred in a gun pit. One gunner on duty was showing some Infantry men. A Sergt ordered another the mechanism of the gun & how it was fired. It had a shell in it & the Sergeant pulled the firing lever to see how it worked. The gun went off and gave the Infantry men an awful big fright knocking them over off the seat. They just fled away. An enquiry into the matter resulted in a reprimand to our Gunner.
Thursday 24th
It is strange to see the many different styles of dress adapted by our lads. You see them all over the ridges and our firing line now in short britches. Some showing the poor tailoring efforts in shortening the long ones. Others turned their trousers inside out to stop the vermin breeding. A few were found in rather amateurish style. Some resorted to freakish hats and caps and other Deshabble uniforms. It is also peculiar to see a [Indecipherable] smiling through a bunch of whiskers. Every one I ever meet is letting nature take its course. I did so until I got to Alexandria