TCD MS 10822 folio 12 recto
[March 25th 1917] voice as he had once been in my Company. I got to where the working party ought to be at last, but found they were not there so I went down into Coy H. Q. Barely had I got down before several shells landed on the spot that I had been a minute before, killing two men and wounding five. After waiting there for an hour and finding no sign of a working party, I started to go back. Shells were dropping all over the place: after a while in the inky blackness & drizzling rain, I lost my way and found myself wandering towards the German lines. Luckily I recognized the noise of our Batteries and turned back and made towards their flashes. After many tumbles in shell craters and wire entanglements I struck the Beaurains road and got home about 2 a.m.
March 26th. A nasty wet day. I barely left the cave all day except for a short walk in the afternoon.
March 27th. It snowed most of the morning. I walked up to our new H.Q. dug out [?out] of which seven mines were dug out and bombs out of the chimney flue. A certain amount of shelling especially near H.Q. After lunch I walked down the cave and through the sewers right into the Barracks in Arras – an astonishing walk. I tried to get a bath there, but they were too crowded. A good deal of shelling on the way back and many casualties I’m afraid. I had a bath in the cave before dinner.
March 28th. A frosty night and fine morning. We relieved our 8th Btn in the afternoon. This was done without trouble and I found our H.Q. in the Kreiger Stellung in a very deep dug out out of which five mines were dug. There is very little room to move in it and it was extremely draughty. We have little bunks to sleep in in niches in the wall. It was a very noisy night; heavy shelling all the time. Several shells fell on our roof but as we were 50 feet down, they did no damage. It was however very dangerous to poke one’s head outside. The two Company H.Q. had also an unpleasant time and we had 2 men killed and 1 officer and 5 men wounded.
March 29th. I went all round the line in the morning to all the companies. We have a wonderful view in front and behind over the Boche lines. It was a fairly quiet day with intermittent shelling. The