Item 03: Joseph George Burgess war diary, 1 January 1916-4 February 1917 - Page 188
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[Page 188]
24 Sept, 1916
Fancy having a day of rest on Sunday. Yesterday we came out to the front line & put in most of the day on observation, last night seven of us took up a post on the old desert
The stars above shed forth their soft quiet light,
From out the velvet black ness of the sky
And like some evil phantoms of the night
Thin misty clouds go floating by.
Beneath, the desert spreads its silent sands,
Along lone ridges steals the ghostly mist,
A spirit grey lies brooding oer the land,
The night, all ears is gently crying, Hist!
There was no watch in the crowd so the shifts were a matter of guess work but every one seemed satisfied this morning. We had breakfast at this hod where there is a good well, what a treat to have a good wash & to lie down with a prospect of not being disturbed.