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[Page 87]
After working until daylight the trench showed very little improvement for the whole of the area had been churned about by shell fire until the ground had no body in it. That day things remained very quiet for the enemy's aircraft was very busy hovering over our positions which meant that all hands had to keep as quiet as possible also conceal any movement so as to prevent any observation by the Huns. Towards evening Fritz sent over a few shells to let un know the war was still in & although no casualties were suffered it made things unpleasant while it lasted. During the next morning heavy rain set in which kept up all day & before very long the trench & dug out had all fallen in leaving the boys standing in mud knee deep with very little protection from shells. To make matters worse Fritz became annoyed for he started to shell our position about 10AM then continued it all day with the result that several casualties were caused. The shelling was that accurate that he absolutely blew the trench to pieces, causing the boys to take cover in the neighbouring shell holes & with all these conditions they maintained the highest of spirits. The taking out of the wounded from this position was a very serious problem for it had to be done by day needing four men to each stretcher for the stretchers had to be carried on the shoulders owing to the mud. Many of the stretcher bearers became casualties during their carries owing to shell fire which made the duties more strenuous for the wounded had to be carried about a mile & a half to the dressing station. The same day we were informed that we would be releived that night so all hand set to work to pack up what things they could find belonging to them, then waited patiently for the relief to arrive. As night began to fall the boys became uneasy for every one was anxious to get out of this position for although it had only been forty eight hours it had seemed like several weeks. The relief never arrived until about midnight & the waiting about had proved a terrible strain of suspense for every man was wet through to the skin all being thickly covered with mud through lying about in the shell holes all day also through being hit with big pieces of mud thrown about by the bursting shells. When the incoming troops arrived we found them to be the Lancashire Fusaliers it being a sight for sore eyes, for to know that we were being releived by Imperial troops it meant we had finished with that part of the line for awhile if not altogether. On being releived we set off on the long march to Ypres which proved to be another eventful experience for on the way out our party took the wrong track on two occasions which meant retracing our steps each time each time until the old track was picked up. Eventually we managed to find our way to the main Zonnebeke to Ypres road which made the remainder of the journey fairly easy going for this road was in good repair. On the way out along this road we came across several Australian Comforts Fund Humpies where we were able to get a cup of hot Cocoa, biscuits & cigarettes which was like a gift from Heaven under such circumstances & it greatly helped to cheer the boys up. On arriving at the big mill on the western side of Ypres where the battalion was instructed to assemble, big fires were soon lighted, the troops spending the remainder of the morning until daybreak in drying their clothes & scrapping the worst of the mud off. At daylight I went round my platoon to see if they had all arrived & while doing this inspection I found that most of the boys had neither equipment or rifles for it transpired that most of them had become lost with another platoon on the way out & were led into a lake near Zonnebeke which meant that everything had to be thrown away to enable them to swim for safety. Shortly after daylight a good breakfast was issued which was done justice to by the hungry troops.