Item 06: Frank H. Molony diary, 25 March 1918-7 August 1918 - Page 227

[Page 227]

July 31
The guns again, a cold night after a sun hot day. Most of gear parked and ready: posted to Mrs. H. the book of Villon and Masefield's Gallipoli, Keats in a tube with a roll of Tracing liner, the old maps of Armentieres, the centre of a roll of drawing paper.

Today's work: the morning map list for G. Officer, enemy dump and supply maps corrected to date, and a legend for the sten man.

290.
Jim brought down from Borre, his last sketches. Three large canvasses, one of the O.P. of the O.P. Billet, and an episode of the 1st Btn. stunt by the railway, and a bonser little colour sketch of the full morning sun on the Pradelles church tower, and an estaminet alongside and passing a group of Infantry, the brilliant colours of the morning, the sun on the shell pocked red brick tower, the roof of the estaminet with its few remaining tiles and its bright green window shutters and doorway, and the debris and broken ground of the road made a fine little picture!!

August
291.
The sun and his colour. Back to the hut after our last 'chips' at Germain's. Marie told us her sorrow at "all the Aussies going, I love the Aussies .."

Away from Marie Cappel, through the fields of yellow ripe wheat – great patching of pale gold hazed about with the colour of redded brown, and the deep strong green of potato and bean fields, and above a Wedgwood sky, and edged about the horizon the quiet still trees.

Mail – from the Unit – George Moore's "The Story Teller's Holiday". Pearce gave it me in the fields so I took it across to the pool, and opened it in the shade of one of the willows, half bound in parchment, blue board, hand-made paper, and labelled back, opened the invoice, 2.4.8.!!! Already well started on its reading, and a taking to Moore as a fawn to the sun.

But now the transport, problems doubly involved.