"One shell during the morning so shook the place that my head bumped up and down on my pillow. Before we were up the Brigade-Major (Thompson) came to see Captain Andrews about working parties. Brigade are very pleased with our work, especially as the —— left their work unfinished, owing to wind up about trench-mortars!
"Up 2 p.m. Platoon inspections. Then lunch. From the sound I should imagine that our preliminary bombardment for the forthcoming offensive is beginning. Our artillery here is sending a good deal of stuff over. At 6 p.m. I commenced a period of twenty-four hours as Orderly Officer. My main duty consists of seeing that the road outside is cleared after heavy shelling: for this object, Baldwin has a party permanently on the job."
FOOTNOTES:
[5] See [Appendix III.]
[6] See [Appendix IV.]
CHAPTER XI
MUSTARD OIL
"On the night of July 12th we were treated to a new form of gas, 'mustard oil.' The two Companies billeted in Ypres suffered heavily, the casualties numbering 3 officers and 114 other ranks." Thus the Lancashire Fusiliers' Annual. The following letter, which I wrote in the Ramparts, on July 13, after alluding to the working party recorded at the end of the last chapter, describes that great bombardment of Ypres:
"On Wednesday evening (July 11) I had had a working party, with Sergeant Clews, in the front line. Dickinson had a party on my right. The work was: repair of parapet and parados knocked in by recent shelling. While we were at it the Germans sent over trench-mortars, a kind of shell which rises to a great height, looking like a burning snake, and then descends and pierces right into the earth, exploding underneath and sending the earth above it in all directions. The men all crouched against the parapet with a certain amount of wind up; but they were well to our left. Giffin, who had a party some distance to our left, said that they were about ten yards to his right. He and his party were covered with dirt when one of them exploded. Dickinson and I ceased work about 1 a.m. and returned. While returning, a thick mist came on. Dickinson's party was in front; my party following behind his. It was all we could do to keep in touch; and we almost lost the way. The party in front kept halting while Dickinson tried to find the way; then they would go on at a great speed, so much so that we had to run to catch up, floundering into shell-holes; the men were cursing and swearing, each thinking that he knew the way himself: on the whole it was a box-up; but, as usual, we got home all right eventually. No casualties—two days without any casualties!