Lewis war diary, August 1917-March 1919 / James Ray Lewis - Page 106
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[Page 106]
of it. They seemed to be wheezing and bursting everywhere. I thought to myself, if a man of us is left alive out of this it'll be a miracle. The chap in front of me was wounded and I stopped "Are you hit badly", I asked, I don't know he said. I can walk but we must get for it we'll be killed if we stop here. All this time which was only a few seconds, the shells were still bursting as quickly as ever, he made for a trench and I made for another as the others were now out of sight in the darkness. The trench I was in ran parallel to Fritz's shells and one used to whizz just a foot or two along the top every few seconds, if it falls short I thought. The barrage seemed to slacken. I jumped out and a salvoe came down almost as I did so. So I ran along and jumped into an old Fritz snipers post that was handy, and I sat tight till dawn showed and the barrage slackened down then I stole out, and found a trench which I followed until I ran against some of the 19th and soon found my way back to my possy and reported; the others had reached the post except the wounded man. The raid wasn't too successful for one officer was taken prisoner and an informal exchange was made for a badly wounded German.