Item 07: John D. Wilson diary, 19 September-28 December 1917 - Page 71
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[Page 71]
We lost some officers and many wounded. Major Storey, Capt Toull were among the wounded, also Cpt. Moule.
Yesterday I volunteered to go on a pack stunt to the front, but my services were not required. I was the only one who has ever volunteered for the job in the Transports. But to day I was sent up, riding a small mule with N. Phillips. We met two other pack leaders from each of the other Battalions on the road & went off under the charge of a corporal in the 40. I changed my mount with Phillips, riding 1 mule and leading another. We went up through Ypres, which is a ruined city with not a solitiary civilian in it. It has been a magnificent city before the war with many buildings of great architectural beauty, but only fragments of the walls are now standing. Factories, cathedrals, chateaus, and houses are in ruins, most of them beyond repair. Passing through the city & over a canal we travelled along the Ypres-Menin road and Potifze road for several miles. At a dugout we saw a Brigade officer Mr. Whitehead, & got further instructions