Mercer papers, 9 December 1917-19 June 1919 / Harold Mercer - Page 54
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[Page 54]
I went in search of him & found him at last, right in front of the post. When I called softly to him he twisted round towards Fritz, and started to swear quite loudly; which started the Hun machine gunners.
Bowen seemed annoyed, & inclined to blame me for his wanderings. I learnt, when I got back to the cookhouse that he had refused to wait for the "buckshee" which is a ration carriers perogative. I did. However rotten I feel I always have an appetite, & the stuff for the line is good. The food & the tiredness I felt made me heavy, & dragging through the mire, which was knee deep, on the way back to Rose Wood was a weariness.
When I saw what I though was solid ground I was just saying "thank God!" when I flopped over, head downwards in a shell-hole. It saved me, for, at that moment, a splatter of machine gun bullets whistled over the top; but I was soaking wet, & covered with mud. However, such was my weariness, I simply lay down just as I was, with my blanket around me, drank my rum, & dropped into a sound sleep feeling warm as toast in spite of the wetness. As a matter of fact one gets used to that. Since we came in I have seldom been fully dry, if ever.