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[Page 45]
night when the front line was taken over. our way to the front line was along a communication trench which passed behind Hill 59 then across a railway line where we entered another communication trench which was along the top of the railway cutting to the front line. When the front line was reached I was told to report to the platoon sergeant occupying the left flank of "A" Company of the Dublin Fusaliers. After proceeding along the trench for about fifty yards I found the sergeant who showed me his sector of the line it being about fifty yards to the left of Hill 60 the Huns front line being only twenty yards away from ours at this part. It had been raining for a couple of days previous to this & as there was practically no shelter the mud & slush was about knee deep in the front line. When the company arrived after dark & the relief carried out sentries were put on duty receiving strict orders to keep a very sharpe look out for being so close to the enemy it was necessary to be on the alert the whole time in case of an attack. The troops had to remain as quiet as possible having to speak to one another in a whisper for we were within bombing distance & any noise may mean a lot of unnecessary casualties. Whilst in this position we were troubled with many rifle grenades bombs & trench mortars the company suffering many casualties by these also several men were killed by enemy snipers who were fairly active on this part of the front. This part of the front was a network of under ground tunnels which were being dug & kept in order by a Canadian Tunnelling Company for it was from the head of the tunnels that the big mine was being layed under the famous Hill 60. The Germans were also tunnelling on a very big scale here for it was known that our positions were also heavily mined. our stay in the front line lasted three & a half days for we were relieved by "D" Company of our battalion during the morning of the 5th for although we were so close to Fritz's our trenches were sufficiently deep enough to allow a relief to be carried out by day. On being relieved our company was taken back along the communication trench to the end of the railway cutting to a lot of well built dug outs which were used as supports. This railway line was the main Paris to Brussels line which at that time was only a mass of shell holes & sand bag barricades which had been erected by our troops for defence purposes this line running between Hill 60 & Hill 59. The duties while in this position was to carry rations from Jackson's Dump to the front line troops of a night the rations being brought up to the dump by the battalion transport. During the day time the company was detailed into parties to work with the engineers in trench revetting & consolidation. While in supports we were troubled occasionally by enemy shells of small calibre but fritz had a great liking for throwing a big trench mortar about called a Miniwurfer these things weighing about c "cwt" & when they hit the ground the explosion was terrific also making a hole about ten feet deep but luckily these things were fired at random, the battalion suffering very few casualties from them. The battalion occupied this position until the night of the 7th of September when the 1st Battalion relieved us & we were taken straight back along the railway line to a big embankment where we were put in a big dug out underneath the railway. The interior of this dug out was like a long tunnel having double rows of wire bunks on either side being well lighted by electricity throughout which was a great convenience. This tunnel which was called Railway Dug-Outs was used as reserves, having sufficient accommodation for a battalion of troops & supplied splendid cover from enemy shells. The following afternoon I was detailed in charge of a Gas Guard for brigade Headquarters who were also accommodated in the above big tunnel & this duty last twenty four hours. On the night of the 10th I was sent out with a party to the support line & on reporting to the engineers there found that the duties were