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[Page 18]
day broke fine & clear.
On Monday the 24th all went well until abt. 7 o'clock in the morning, when Fritz opened up with his 5.9 guns chiefly, & throughout the day subjected us to a most intense bombardment. It was quite an indescribable experience. The big shells were lobbing all round, tearing up huge holes, scattering abroad the battered remnants of the houses already ruined & altogether making the place an inferno. B Co quickly had to quit it but we were able to hold on without having very many casualties. There was a short lull about midday & then he started again & kept at it right through the afternoon in spite of our aeroplanes flying over only a few hundred feet high endeavouring to locate his guns. At one time during the afternoon we had to keep a tight grip. A party of 8th Bn. men had been pushed out to dig an advanced line the previous night, & owing to the heavy fire these now came pushing back on our line, only abt 4 ft. deep & crowded with our boys crouching in the bottom. However Capt.