Lewis war diary, August 1917-March 1919 / James Ray Lewis - Page 62
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[Page 62]
and troops were being rushed over to stem the onrush.
During the night I was wakened by several loud explosions. At first I thought it must be the guns at the front, but pretty soon I realised that that singing sort of plun-g-g-g was bombs. Outside the searchlights shone upwards like so many tales tails of Halleys comet and an occasional flash like lightning showed where bombs were falling. Fritz' planes were out raiding the town. Our camp, and the aerodrome, or the railway station, being their main objectives. I think they were out a bit too, just as well, they were.
We were jolly tired, when we landed here, and I was ill before I started and the nights spell did us good.
Our Sergeant paraded us every day and said we would be issued with ammunition in the evening but we never got any issued for several days. He also gave us a small route march. As we were struggling through the sand one morning, with our packs up, a French girl ran by and laughingly shouted in clear English "Thats the stuff to give 'em", needless to say, we didn't see the joke.
Every evening we can see the little tommies streaming out of the camp for the front but we are staying here very well.