Sullivan letter diary, 27 October 1915-9 October 1917 / Eugene Sullivan - Page 187
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[Page 187]
with full vigour on "no man's land" and the opposing trenches. Star shells go up every minute or so and light the whole place like day and their flare is accompanied by a fusilade of bullets. During these flares the men in no mans land "freeze" i.e. remain stock still and then they are unnoticed. Generally they [Two lines blacked out by censor] the German lines, and remain hidden there listening to the movements of the enemy. From this they can judge the strength of the enemy, and the position of his machine guns, and whether he is preparing for any big move.
Of course perfect silence is necessary in these posts or else they will be discovered. One of our men was in a listening post with a Tommy on our second night at the front. He coughed and immediately there was a report and our man was wounded in the arm the bullet going right through his arm and it lodged in the Tommie's hip. Both of them