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[Page 39]
places it had been completely filled in by shell fire. next day orders were issued for "A" Company to go forward to relieve "D" Company 4th Battalion who had been severely handled by the huns for they had stopped several enemy counter attacks with every success but had suffered through it. our company started to move about 2 PM with No. 1 platoon leading the others following with close intervals. The way to the front line lay through an old battered trench, which afforded very little cover for instead of turning to the right as the party I was with did the day previous we were taken straight ahead. The trench we were following came to an abrupt ending near the top of a big ridge & by this time fritz was shelling fairly heavy for it being in the daylight he had evidently seen our company on the move. I was practically at the end of the company & while passing the Battalion aid post on the way up I noticed several of our company who had been wounded being attended to by the Doctor & A.M.C. men. On nearing the top of the ridge progress became very slow orders being received to keep under cover as much as possible for the enemy's shells were causing a fair number of casualties in our company. When I arrived at the top of the ridge I found we had a big stretch of open country to pass over this being crossed in twos & threes for it was under direct observation of the enemy. Each time a small group would start from the trench the enemy would open out with his artillery & the flashes of these guns could be seen quite plainly in a word straight ahead. When my turn arrived to go over I was accompanied by one other chap & we had hardly left the trench when a big shell landed right in front of me knocking both of us to the ground but luckily we escaped injury but I was to shaken up to continue my journey so we made our way back to the trench we had just left. By this time rain had set in falling fairly heavy which made the ground very slippery for it was a very clayey nature. After a few minutes rest I set off again with the same mate across the open country with the same chap & after covering half the distance at a run I was compelled to take cover in a big shell hole for a few minutes. When I regained my breath I made another run but my mate stayed behind but the shells were too warm to hang about in open country under so I made my way to an old piece of trench about twenty yards further on which afforded fairly decent cover. The way from this point lay along an old trench which was knee deep in mud & had been blown about considerably by the enemy's artillery & at different places groups of our boys were engaged digging other chaps out who had been buried alive. progress along this trench was very slow for the rain was still falling accompanied by a barrage from the huns artillery & these with mud knee deep had the whole of the boys who were left in the company completely exhausted. While going along the trench I noticed for the first time several of the Huns reinforced concrete machine gun positions which were about six feet high by four feet square with only room enough for two men & the gun. it was during the early hours of the morning that I arrived at the front line there still being a lot more of the company behind me. On arriving at the front line I found it to be a very narrow trench about shoulder deep & had been filled in in many places by artillery. The remaining hours until daybreak were spent in deepening & dividing the trench so as to make it habitable also to repair the trench where it had been blown in. At daylight our company was numbered off it being found that there were only fifty men there out of one hundred & forty that had left the support line at 2 o'clock the previous afternoon most of the men who were missing were either, killed, wounded, buried or shell shocked