Primary tabs
Transcription
[Page 99]
where we were all dumped & told to find our way to Fricourt where we would issue. After ploughing through mud knee deep we halted for a rest & were lucky to get another lift on a Motor Lorrie. The roads were very congested & miles of traffic were all held up on account of the hard pulling , we eventually reached Fricourt, which is the old line of trenches & which was the first village taken in the British offensive. Of the village itself nothing remains save a few scattered brick & bare tree trunks all twisted & distorted.
The ground is all broken & is heaped up just as through a Volcano had taken place & misplaced the whole surface of the country.
The more pathetic sights are clearly evinced one either side of the road, where grave yards containing the bodies of British French & Germans will always bear testimony of the furious fighting which took place.
Two trenches about 40 yards apart winding over hill & dale showed the relative position of both force before the attack , the Germans having the better part on account of them holding the ridge which encircles the village.
I was informed that I would be in Fricourt, with apparently nothing to do until nightfall, so decided to make a close inspection of the trenches both British & French to prove the correctness of the tales one heard of the strength of the German trenches. I will now record my opinion on same & will state plainly that everything is the plain unvarnished truth. I went on my