Soldier Record

In a reserved occupation (at Woolwich Arsenal), he was unable to join up until 1916. He acted as Field Observation Officer at Passchendaele and Vimy Ridge. He described to me the appalling conditions at the Front, the bottomless pits of mud, the cold. If anyone fell from the duckboards, they were lost in the morass. At times, wrapped in a blanket and leaning against the side of a trench on watch, he had to be chipped out of the ice in the morning. Once, sitting in camp, an explosion shot a grinning skull into his lap. At times, only one cup of petrol-flavoured water a day was available - this had to be used for shaving in and drinking, and one hard tack biscuit had to be divided between two men by stamping on it to break it.