TCD MS 10821 folio 28 recto
[July 9th 1916] front. The day turned out to be a delightful one: it makes all the difference in the trenches. I saw out & basked in the sunshine reading. The communication trenches are still very wet. The day proved exceptionally quiet, only a few fin bombs & whizz bangs in the evening. A foraging party in the derelict gardens of Ronville produced some artichokes, new < potatoes>, currants & raspberries which proved a welcome change to our fare.
July 10th. The weather still keeps fine & the trenches are beginning to dry up. The Divisional General & Brigadier came round this morning. The former is a small man & so did not mind all the overhead wire in the trenches. I bless our steel helmets every day, which have saved my head many a time from bumps & this horrible overhead barbed wire. I am getting used to their weight. Sgt Bayless was wounded during the night but not badly. He was on the parapet repairing damage done by the rain. In the afternoon some 4.2’s came over & also some 8” behind the next company: luckily no damage was done.
July 11th. A beautiful starry night & very quiet. I was prowling round till 1 am & then again from 2.45 am till 5 am. The morning was quite quiet, but in the afternoon we had a bombardment of Beaurains. I walked down into