TCD MS 3414 folio 46 recto
[September 1915]
was attached to the RFC as mess man. We carried about a dozen white flags and several ground sheets with which to mark out the aerodromes. The officers of the 7th Lancers gave me some supper, after which I lay down and slept. My orderlies woke me at 3 a.m., and fortifying myself with a cup of tea and a biscuit I followed General Delamain towards the “X” defences. The ground up to these defences was as flat as a billiard table with not even a bush to give concealment from view. We gradually approached the position and when we got within effective artillery range, the 82nd battery under Col Maule & Capt Bayley came into action. I therefore marked out my ground and before long the Morris Farman with Lt Fulton & Capt Yeates-Brown arrived, they interviewed the General and flew off again on some business in another part of the field of battle. The infantry were deployed and after ¾ hour everyone advanced to a point some 2000 yards nearer the trenches. The 82nd and the Hants Howitzers now <both> came into action and the Infantry <under Gen Delamain> began to advance.