Sunday 20th August

Belgium

My own darling,

I am writing this in the trenches. Yesterday morning we were taken out to a field and given a lecture on gas and then we put on our masks and got a dose of it. Afterward we got a slight dose of tear shell gas without masks. In the afternoon we heard that ½ the M.G.S. were to go to the trenches that night, also some of the companies and details. We started after dark and drove in motorbus to within about a mile of the trenches, marched to the communication trench and down it to our place. Not very much going on. A little gun and machine gun fire and star shells going up incessantly. They look fine at night and light up all the country round. Today there has not been much excitement, but this afternoon it was quite lively just here for a while. The Germans were trying to find a battery behind us, with shrapnel. The shells were bursting just over our trench (the reserve trench). We got nothing in the bay I am in except showers of dirt but a man in the next bay was hit by a shrapnel bullet in the back and taken away. The guns behind us have just started again so I suppose we will have some more in reply. There are quite a lot of aeroplanes flying about all the time and it is interesting watching the shrapnel bursting all round them. We are hoping to see an aerial fight some time. The Germans have just started firing high explosive shells, whizbangs they call them, over us at the battery behind. They make a weird sound as they pass. We expect to go to the firing trench tonight and back to camp tomorrow night.

Monday

There was quite a lot of shelling last night. Just before dawn we were given another 24 hours rations and then taken over to the fire trenches. Another man and myself were left with the crew of a Lewis Gun of another battalion. The rest of the section went on, where to I don't know. There seems to be absolutely nothing going on except a little long distance firing and some sniping. I have been sitting alone most of the morning, the other men resting in a little dug out. There is a little periscope here and I can watch the German trenches, which are only 50 yards away here. There has been one sniper most attentive, firing steadily all morning into the parapet just beside me.

Tuesday

I got back from the trenches this morning. Things livened up a bit yesterday afternoon for about ½ hour. The Germans gave us a terrific bombing with their trench mortars and "rum jars" and fish tails were showered on us. Rum jars are big cans which explode when they reach the ground and fish tails are smaller ones with a sort of tail to them. You can ……[The remainder of this letter is missing]