Item 03: Peter Turnbull diary, 1 January-31 December 1918: No. 046
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[Page 46]
[March 27, 1918]
Bienvillers-au bois
We are all waiting orders this morning from the line to see what we have to do. About 10 AM we got word to fall in & we marched about 5 miles to Bienvillers-au-bois were we had to dig in the earth to make a bit bed. My mate & me went out & found some straw & a mattrice & feather pillow, its a new mattrice for a ¾ size bed. We slept fairly warm with only two blankets over the top. I forgot to say that this village is nearly all knocked to pieces & there is troops everywhere, some waiting to go in & others "what is left" coming out. The old church has been knocked about but the worst sight of all is to see old men & woman having to leave their homes because we are exspected to fall back here. Fritz is giving a lot of lives for every inch of ground he is taking.
We all think the war will soon finish now, someone must go down & we feel certain it is Fritz. He attack our boys three times today but got cut up without reaching our line every time.