TCD MS 10821 folio 52 recto
August 20th [1916]. After a cold night we are beginning to settle down in our new camp. I rode over to the Transport Camp in the morning: there were miles upon miles of horses everywhere. Just as I was passing a 6” shell burst prematurely & killed two men & wounded about 8 or 9 others. I saw Nixon & Aylwyn Cavendish & had a long talk with them. In the afternoon I rode up to Montauban to see the Battalion: they were very comfortable, living in a very wide trench. After spending an hour or so there I rode back to our camp. The night was a very noisy one, constant shelling all the time.
August 21st. The guns were firing rapid all the night & life in the front trenches must have been very unpleasant. While we were having breakfast, several Boche aeroplanes came over & had the impertinence to drop a number of bombs on the camps all round. Some 17 Anzacs were killed & wounded & a good many horses I believe. I then rode over & found that the 2nd Bn had just arrived back from High Wood where they had been having a very poor time. The last 24 hours they had been heavily shelled & constantly attacked & had suffered very heavy losses. I shall see them again tomorrow & hear further details. Geoffrey Moore