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[Page 45]
France Firing Line "45"
17/4/14
Dark at stand to arms (3.45), turned out and inspected all the posts. Carried on at 4.20 am the enemy trenches being clearly visible and daylight rapidly gaining strength. At this time we are treated to a concert by the song birds in the fields. Test shell from battery at 9.30 landed 5 yards short of enemy parapet. After stand to went back to bed and slept quietly until 7. A dirty muddy drizzly cold morning.
Received word my wounded man Jordan had died so wrote to his wife. He was a good soldier and got a terrible wound. Wallace of "A" Coy (shot by our own men) is also dead.
Put party on filling sandbags ready to heighten parapet tonight and also had a new dugout built for men without shelter and shelters put up for cooks. Enemy artillery put some shells over before tea and got onto "B" Coy parapet. A very loafing quiet day here stayed in dugout reading and writing. Had some men from Jays Post up here working and owing to shelling ordered them to return in twos instead of as a body. One remarked as a shell landed "By God we'll reach there by ones if this keeps up". Quinn is very dark and they call him Abdul. Dyson of the squeaky voice is another card and the hero of that desert drama, Bennett who recovered his voice after three months loss by getting drunk on rum and salt is also a wag.
Heavy rain at stand to 7 – 8 pm. Inspected firing line. Our machine guns firing indirect fire from Wye Farm. After dark put up row of 50 headers on parapet above my dugout the working party got well sniped in the process. An uncomfortable night for the men on the fire steps. Various patrols going out necessitating very careful warning of all concerned.
Cloudy but moonlight at 10 pm and cold.
18/4/16
Dark and raining at stand to. Inspected firing line all cheerful and waggish. One man had his w.p.sheet laced up and over his head and shoulders only nose showing. Went down to Jays Post wading through from 6 – 12 inches of water along the trench. Pumps at work. Inspected parapets on return and marked out some work. Cold and raining. Very heavy bombardment raging some miles away.
Last night in bitter cold and wet a man was working digging out slush in rear when a bullet whistled past him, "No byes – I haven't got the luck to stop one of you" he said and threw up another shovelful.
Artillery officers called in and we tested the battery, the shell taking 1 minute to arrive and landed right in the enemy firing line before exploding. At lunch time they threw over some heavy stuff which landed about 600 yards in rear. The heavy roll of guns still keeps going further round. On account of gas there are a good many windvanes erected and some men have made model aeroplanes very ingenious. Fastened to the sandbags here propellers race round with every breath of air.
The Padre, Dr Craig and Matthews all round this morning. Plenty of time for reading and writing here – the men all who are not on posts busy on fatigues &c. Ammunition redistributed today, plenty of bombs now on each post. Found an armour piercing bullet used by enemy to go through our steel loophole plates.
At evening stand to it rained heavily and makes it rough for the lads on the fire step all night. Today we got an order giving number of cases of men shot for disciplinary reasons – a very impressive list – but the casual Australian merely passes a verdict "G'struth" and carries on! All work well in firing line no trouble with even the work, Vousden the old ventriloquist
is a character. Aged 60 he enlisted as 43 and has the heart of a lion but is always ailing, as night on the post he was all doubled up and in Gallipoli had to often be lifted down. Lucas the cook is a wag too. Yesterday he spoke roughly to Vousden who picked up a stick and gave "Bob" a few tapes on the pate laying open.
Very quiet night wet cold & light[?].