from Second-Lieut. H. Martin Jones
[Bridgnorth Grammar School Magazine, July, 1915]

3rd June,
"The trenches we occupy are on a slope facing an old town which was once in the possession of the English cavalry and was also the scene of the famous charge of the London Scottish.
The trenches consist of two parallel barricades of sandbars and these were in very poor condition when we took them over.
We have a spell of four days in the trenches, then we come out for four days. During the four days' rest we dig communication trenches from 8 pm. till midnight Then we occupy the reserve trenches until 2 a.m., when we fall back to a wood. We sleep in this wood till 6-30 a.m., and then go back to our billet which is a rather dilapidated farm-house. The men occupy the barn, whilst we sleep on our valises in the house itself. Every 12 days, however, we get a rest and sleep in wooden huts which have been erected about five miles behind the firing line.
I went for a stroll the other day round a village about 1,000 yards behind the firing line. This village is shelled every day at 5 p.m. by the Germans. They never fail to keep their appointment punctually and the place is in ruins. The Church is smashed to pieces. I walked through the ruins of the parsonage and found the floor littered with books of all kinds. It was easy to picture the old Cure in times of peace quite happy amongst his books and his flowers."