Item 06: John D. Wilson diary, 17 May-19 September 1917 - Page 125

[Page 125]

were lined with iron. It was 10.p.m. & just getting dark by the time we worked our way back to our dugout over a series of shellholes entanglements & trenches.

Friday July 20,1917. (1082.)
All the sleeping rooms in this vast dug out are overcrowded and dozens sleep on the hard damp floor, and many use the various passages. There are 5 exits, and it is very warm inside, especially near the gas engine used for driving the dynamo. It was 12 Oclock when I got to bed & I did not get up until near 9. This morning the hold was full of water & it took over an hour for two of us to pump it out. I went up on top for about ½ an hour for some fresh air. Fritz was shelling some of our guns behind & many shells fell close to this cavern. When I was getting a drink at the cook house at no 9 exit a shell landed within 10 yards of me. There were the two walls of the trench between me & it, & I was stooped trying to get some water out of a petrol tin when it went off, so it all went over me. There were others about & none were hurt.
[Next portion is in shorthand, with "86. I also", included]
Later I heard that the shell was a dud. I was so close to it I could not tell & did not stop to examine. It broke in the trench which was repaired in the evening. While doing so a corpse was discovered under the trench.

Saturday July 21, 1917. (1083.)
I slept in one of the tunnels last night in company with a lot of British Artillery men who were shelled out of their billets & came to the tunnel for safety. There is more room here, & better air, & it is not so