TCD MS 10821 folio 47 recto
[August 12th 1916] Near here there were tiers upon tiers of heavy guns making a horrible row.
August 13th. A rather disturbed night owing to the numbers of guns firing, but we have made ourselves a comfortable bivuoac. Church Service was held in the field near our bivouacs. After lunch I took the company for a bathe in the Ancre near Albert. It took us an hour to get there & then we found that the river was not very deep. Some 11 inch shells fell within a few hundred yards of us. The Church Spire with the leaning virgin was a very curious sight. We passed our 8th & 16th Bns on the way. After dark there was a wonderful display from our c of lights from the trenches. We could see red, green, yellow & white lights going up by hundreds all along the horizon, & mixed in between were the vivid flashes of the bursting shells. We sat up for a long time watching this very pretty sight.
August 14th. A rather wet night. In the morning I practised the company in making an attack on the old German trenches near Fricourt. We started from our support line & made it as realistic as possible. It was most interesting & the men thoroughly enjoyed it. In the afternoon with Brady we walked round to some of the 6” Gun & Howitzer batteries & saw them working & had their