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[page 87]
171
(6).
received such treatment as was dealt out to it on this occasion. One is constantly reminded of the last Franco / German war for each village found about has a memorial somewhere within its boundaries erected to the memory of its contribution of soldiers who fell about Bapaume mostly during the first week of January 1871
It is rather an important town, as roads and railways radiate out in several directions forming a new connecting link with out forces in the North and South. The scene on the Main Albert - Bapaume road immediately after the occupation of the last named town was a remarkable one. The traffic was immense. Guns, ammunition, transport of all descriptions, cavalry, foot troops, Red Cross, vehicles, etc. flocked along in streams all day and night. Piccadilly never saw such traffic. About every couple of miles the Boche had blown a huge crater in the road measuring about 50 feet in diameter and abour 30 / 40 feet deep. To look at one of these holes at first one would think that about 50 men could fill it up in a day, but after a day's hard work the hole appears as big as ever. It was found to be much quicker to build a road round each side of these craters (cutting down the banks where necessary) than to block traffic whilst they were being filled xxx in. In one place a huge caterpillar dragging a howitzer blocked the traffic badly by falling into a trap left by Fritz. Whilst the frost was on he had driven a tunnel under the road about four feet below the surface knowing that when the thaw set in, the first heavy vehicle passing over would dislodge the earth and fall in. The caterpillar fell in all right and in doing so swung half way across the road. The next heavy vehicle, coming in the opposite direction in order to avoid the cater pillar edged well over to the side of the road and there fell