Private P. F. Davies, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders.

[Bridgnorth Grammar School Magazine, July, 1915]

France. July 12th.
"We have moved to a different part of the line and our position on taking it was fine and quiet, both sides agreeing to as little fuss as possible.

Only a rifle shot or two were fired every hour, a wee few more at night, of course, and at dawn and dusk.

On the third morning, however, in the very small hours, they got a tremendous shock, or rather three shocks, and 60 yards of their trench was demolished, thrown into the air, turned right over, in fact even now, about a fortnight after the event, it looks like the top of a volcanic crater and is of course irreparable.

As a result they shelled us every day after that, only stopping at night-time. At about 3 o'clock on the morning of the last day in the trenches they bombarded us for half-an-hour, giving us in that time between six and seven hundred high explosive shells with a few shrapnel thrown in. The shrapnel is not so bad when there is good shelter for everyone, as we had there, but the high explosives are not so nice. We can hear them coming, but can never see them, and one landing on the parapet is sufficient to blow it right in, although it may be five or six feet in thickness.

Result for the Germans' expensive shells : nine wounded — hardly worth it. was it ?

Being a signaller now — my latest rôle - I was attached to a company telephone office in the firing line and we had a rather busy time mending broken wires, etc., and getting the reports through to headquarters."