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[Page 22]
depleted ranks. "A" Company mustered a total (including cooks & transport men who remained in Albert) of 59 out of perhaps 170 odd who went into the line. My platoon went over in the charge 40 strong & came out with only 18. But between all of us who had been thro' the experience together there seemed to be a bond quite unknown before. When at one time a stranger came up to speak to me & saluted! it somehow seemed so paltry. My feeling was that we had all faced the big things together & were comrades rather than high-horse officers & men.
By 9 o'clock our travelling kitchens had arrived & a hot meal (bacon & tea) put fresh heart into us all. After it I obtained permission to take a small party with Corporal Campbell back in order to salve our overcoats & waterproofs from the support trench dump, to try & dig up one of the 3 captured machine guns from the debris of the ruined old Bn. H.Q. (permission had been obtd. from Divn. to send it home to Sydney Museum properly labelled "Posieres" &c.)