Item 02: Leslie Kemnitz Stuart diary, 4 March-28 December 1916 - Page 218
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[Page 218]
[Sunday 23 July]
This morning we were given in accomodation [accommodation] in an old support trench to the old French line that at one time ran near Albert.
The Cathedral at Albert is as remarkable as the little cottage at white City (see date of April 11th) The spire has been brought down, right on top was a huge gilt statue of the Madonna, it must be quite 20 ft long. The shell has torn the spire below the figure away, it fell as far as the top of the tower & was there caught by the broken steel girders of what had been a dome & held suspended at the same angle as the hand of a clock pointing to the hour of 4, far above the street below, though it must weigh several tons. It is a very queer sensation passing under it when the sun is making it look for all the world like a tongue of flame.