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[Page 155]
[12th Dec. contd]
for us.
A party of us left in a lorry for Neuve Eglise to play for a combined Divisional Team v combined Engrs & Pioneers & in due course arrived at ground & was having a kick around when a squadron of Gothas came over & sighting us dropped bombs galore on & near ground. Only two got onto the ground (one a dud) but 1 chap was killed & 7 or 8 wounded. We were only 20 yds away from this one & were very fortunate. It made a mess of the side wall of the YMCA & caught two or three men inside.
Then he went over to another ground & also to Westhoff Farm, eventually causing about 68 casualties. but he lost two Gothas one in flames so we got a little back. Bad news reached us during the afternoon when we heard that our Despatch rider Denver had been blown up by a bomb & died instantly.
[Ralph Denver, No. 12104]
Thursday 13th
Denver was buried at Pont D'Achilles Cemetery this morning. In the afternoon our Team (minus three usual players) played 26th Batty AFAB but was defeated by 13 – 0 to nil, they proving to be a superior combination than ours. I played & found it to be however