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[Page 19]
trenches. This recklessness, which might have been fatal anywhere else, generally drew nothing more from Fritz than a shell or two, as they were too scattered to make a good target and too distant for efficient rifle fire. If he started a general bombardment the earth swallowed them up. Well to continue - After having arrived in our trench, our first impulse was to seek a place to have a nap after lookouts were provided. Such a thing was no easy matter, the whole place being dripping wet, but fairly well drained. The trench, as I said, was deep, and there were a few undercut holes in the sides, something like 4 ft 6 or 5 ft long, eighteen inches deep, and the same height scraped out. After clearing a bit of the mud off my rifle, the bolt of which had become quite unworkable, and removing my equipment I curled up in the hole like a dog, and had a short nap which was soon interrupted by the enemy commencing to bombard us with High-explosive shells. I was uneasy of being buried by the explosion and debris of these powerful shells. I felt always a horror of being buried alive. Evtually [Eventually] I got out of the hole and stood in the trench as the shells were falling pretty fast in front and rear. I felt no particular fear, but a certain amount of excitement. I had not stood 5 minutes when a shell burst just beyond the trench with a terrific crash. Five men were lying 3 or 4 yards from me in similar holes. Over these three or four tons of the heavy wet side of the trench trembled for a moment and then fell. Everybody about seemed paralysed by the sudden stillness, then by the terrified cry of an elderly man who was the most crushed. My mind having been dwelling on the possibility of the thing, jumped quickly to the necessity for shovels for which I yelled and set quickly to work to dig them out. Three were released quickly, one almost, except for some large pieces which were resting on his legs, within a few minutes, but some worker unguardedly threw some of the soil over the parapet. This was seen by the watchful Hun, who commenced to shell the place so heavily that only one man stayed with me. The shells went so close overhead, that I felt the rush
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