TCD MS 3414 folio 42 recto
[September 1915]
the crews. On Sept 26th the Division advanced to Nikailat on the left bank. Early on the 27th, having gone with the Division, I rode out to mark out the aerodrome ready for the arrival of the aeroplanes. The place originally decided upon by the Engineers would have necessitated the employment of a complete regiment on a four hour relief to smooth it down, luckily by riding a mile further forward I discovered an ideal landing ground on sand; true it was within extreme range of the enemys guns, but I considered that the risk of being hit by shell fire at that range was considerably less than the risks that would have had to have been faced in landing on rough ground. The machines arrived safely with the exception of Capt Petre who, for some unknown reason, tried to land near a machine that we had wheeled off the ground. He landed amongst a series of ditches and turned his Martin Syde over, completely smashing it up, he himself retired to Hospital with a cut face & a severe shaking.