Item 02: Leslie Kemnitz Stuart diary, 4 March-28 December 1916 - Page 222
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[Page 222]
[Thursday 27 July]
Little sleep & many shells. Mac's birthday. Their fire was very eratic today. As a result of the Magnificent bombing of our lads, we took & held about 100 yds of trench, though we paid dearly for it, yet I am sure Fritz must have done the same.
We have now a hold on about 200 yds of the Huns first line beyond Posieres [Pozieres] & about 100 in his third. We run right out in the middle of his trenches like two capital Ts on top of each other- thus [diagram to illustrate], the wavy lines being Fritzes & the black ones ours. The Village of Posiers [Pozieres] lies 400 yds on our left rear & is held by the 19th Batt. who finished up with about 80 men left out of 13.00. from shell fire alone so you may guess what an inferno it was.
Our bit of trench has only a sandbag barricade between us & the Germans & they try & bomb us out, it is lively at times but they will never shift us.
Today we got 4 men in from No mans land who had been out there since the night of the 24th, they had been living on dead mens water under a constant rain of shrapnel,- no bon?