TCD MS 10823 folio 2 recto
[March 21st 1918] eight o’clock we were completely cut off from communication with the outside world and bitterly did we regret that our telephone wires had not been buried. Much gas had been mixed with the shells and it was impossible to stir outside without a gas mask. The gas curtains keep the dug-out fairly free, but even then, many of us were coughing and choking. About 8.30. a.m. the sentries reported that the bombardment had lifted and that the shells were falling behind, so we stood-to in the trenches round Battalion Headquarters, but owing to the fog which remained as thick as ever, it was impossible to see five yards in any direction. A good deal of gas still hung about in the fog, but it was now possible to move without a gas-mask. A few minutes after a runner came from C Company to say that the Germans were attacking and had arrived at their trenches, and shortly afterwards a runner from A Company came with the news that the Germans were in their trenches and that the Company Commander had been killed. The Doctor had meanwhile gone off to his aid post, about 300 yards away, where he was almost immediately captured. One of the Battalion runners suddenly dived out into the fog and returned with an irate and expostulating German Officer, who had lost his way. I asked him what he was doing here, and he said he was looking for his men who had gone on. On looking at his maps I found to my horror that his objectives for that day were places five and six miles behind our lines, so collecting the maps together, I hurriedly sent them off by a runner to Brigade Headquarters: the officer I put down the dug-out, as he