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[Page 26]
Division was actively engaged. Fritz had driven a large salient in the line there in his mad drive for Paris, but it was now rumoured that the Australians had held him up on their sector in conjunction with the French and British but were being hard pressed. Indeed the shell-fire had increased four-fold on this formerly quiet Front, on which we now were. There was a "war on".
So we proceeded to the Somme by Motor transport, detraining at Amiens station. This once beautiful & splendid city was under fire and the inhabitants were to be seen all along the roads in thousands, flying form the ruthless destruction by bomb and long range shell fire that was now let loose on the devoted country. Planes roared overhead all day & dropped bombs. The troops und vaded the train while the shells wrought havoc around. Thirty casualties were caused to the Brigade, that eve ing owing to the unavoidable congestion of troops at the platform, They were obliged ot desist for a while.
The following day there was a prompt reverse of orders The Hun had "come over" on that portion of the Flanders that we had just left. We were a mobile division. Therefore we had to reload the train "at the tuite" and hustle back to where we came from.
Four days later a new & strange front presented itself to our astonished gaze. Instead of the old shell holes, tangled barb-wire and other debris, and the well known trenches, here