Lives of the First World War

known 10th April 1915

April 10th – Saturday 4.30am The order was quietly passed along: ‘Stand to Arms.” We all got on the platform ready for an attack, but nothing happened, and a little later “Stand Down” was passed on. It soon began to be light and I heard, in a lull, the early twittering of birds, a strange peaceful sound. Now the Guardsmen once again proved their usefulness; they saw our unpreparedness in the matter of fuel and kindly offered to cook for us; so they boiled water for our tea and fried our bacon, and although they admitted they had short rations, they refused any of our spare bread of jam etc. I had not felt extremely cold. I was very sticky though, a wash in the trenches is an impossibility. Suddenly we started sending bombs from a new trench mortar, that was in use for the first time. These bombs are terrible things. The Germans sent some over in reply. One of the Guards was always on the watch. When a bomb came over, they and we fled to the buttress, and cowered down shivering. One bomb burst 20 yards away on our right rear; I saw the hole it made, about a foot deep and four or five feet in diameter, and I fear my letter home became somewhat incoherent. Towards 6 pm we got our packs on. As we were waiting to be relieved, the sun setting redly, A British aeroplane sailed back from the German lines. A Hun anti-aircraft gun started shelling it, and I never saw a finer sight than that of the shells bursting with white puffs far to the rear of our little machine. The smoke stayed motionless, shimmering white in the sun like a small soft cloud. Eleven shells in all were fired but the machine disappeared in the distance unharmed. As I was waiting at the corner of Berkeley Street, watching for bombs, I heard one of the Guardsmen mention High Brooms and Sevenoaks and those names made me ask him if he knew Tunbridge Wells. “Yes” he said, “I live at High Brooms and work at the Gas Works there.” We were not relieved till 6.30pm; it was a very long march home and my feet never felt so heavy as when climbing the stairs of the ecole. I did sleep! April 13th. I write this in a dug –out of the support trenches at Cuinchy. Section 13 is in the fire-trenches, 14-16 in support, the rest in reserve. Bombs being thrown from our left; constant firing and star-shells. My dug-out is about 12 feet by 4, very cosy. We boil water on solid hydrocarbon stove. Sleep now, continue tomorrow.

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