Letters from John Hardie to his family, 1917-1918 - Part 4

Well we held the bront for two days
and nights, and then came back into
the reserve lines, which is about the
worst place at the front as Fertz
can shell you there. without being
afraid of any dropping on his own
lines.
We were there for some time doing
night work, such as laying cables
and carrying ammunition. When one
night they shipted us back to the
other side of Tpres - that was when
our boys saptured Zonnebibe Hell
after the stunt we went up again
to make roads to buing up the Rers.
You just ought to see the state the
country is in, there went one inch
of it that hasn't been torn by shell     
fire. course it is our guns that 
do most of it
The night we were making the road
Old Fritz sent over a few shells as we
were going up. Our guns kept silent
for a long time, then suddenly the
D.C.S. went up; and they opened
I think there were about a thousand
guns firing over our heads. You can
 

imagine the row they would make
The German guns closed up altogether
and we never lost a man on that
job. of the enemy send over one shell
on this front, our fellows usually
throw back about ten. - and if he
sends more, it always ends with our
chaps giving him a barrage.
We were withdrawn from the line
about the 8. Oct to georganise for the
hop over on the 12h. On the 10t we
came back and camped outside Thres
vre Borner &
at a place called will.
forgot to say & had been transferred
to the 9th
Bachere Gein Company.
You see they had suffered very heavely
in a vattle only a few days before, and
8.O. block on
so were very weak. At
the night of the 11t. we left the
camp for the line,- and then began
the marching through pouring
wain and a constany bombardment
of H.Es and gas shells Every little
brack was congested with troops
going up for the lattle, which was
to be one of the luggest things of the
whole sampaign. We were slipping
 

and sliding all over the place, and
falling into shell hales; - and to make
matters, worse, we were loosing men
every few yards.
Hsell we got to our hopping over
place at twenty minutes past five
in the mornent wet to the pkin
and dead beat, we minutes later
our barrage openea, and in less
than ten, mnutes we were away
& dont think I will ever forget-
the sight, and strange to say &
didnt feel the least bt brightlned
I never saw the sky lit up with
such a display of lights. It neally
was a pretty kight.
But we thadnt gone far before
Fuitd got his gurs onto us. Battalion
after battalion got, practically at
to pieces. dont know how it was
our team got through several of
them had their clothes torn by hts
of shells and I got a small splinter
n the hand.
We only got about five hundred
yards when we were held up. You
bee they expected the attack, and had
 

5
been preparing for sometime
The Dasschendalle at Ridge, also
the vellage of the same name, was
to have been our final objective It
piece of ground we had to take
was some that the sommies left
seven days before - and would you
believe it there were some of the
poor chaps, (who had been wounded
still living in the shell holes
ao lat of our wounded got
drowned in the liquid mid. In
the valled beyond our starting
point, the meed, was up to fur
waist, You can form an edea how
hard it was to taekle the enemy
under such conditions
& got hit jest a little while after
reaching our first objective, and had
to crail and flounder through a
swamp, to get onto the main track
out. After about half as hour of such
going, I reached the first dressing
station, which was a German fill
box that had gent been captured
I had intended to get my wound
dressed there, but what I paw there
 

60
was the cause of me going on, as
there were stretchers lined up
outside besides those inside, wait
ing their turn. You see it was an
advanced dressing ptation.
hadnt gone far before I came
across my Battalion, which was in
rserne, sheltering in a rrailway
cutting.
I don't think I will ever forged
the sights I saw along there Chaps
whom I had seen alive only a day
on so before were lying it wtll
groups, just as they were killed
by
the shells and all the way
this
down the road it got worse
was the Mennen road
heard afterwards what was left
of our boy went up and helped
in an attack just after I came out.
& also heard oor Bob Pearce got
plightly wounded and when
coming out got killed by a shell
I think I told you before alout
having to make my way out
about five meles on to the fafth dress
ing station. You just ought to
 

have seen the traffis on that
Bennin Rd. On one side there
were fresh troops coming up, on
the other a constant stream
wounded going out. Yearly all
the stretchers were carried by
German prisoners, as our bearers
were about wiped out.
oor the centre were
geins being
brought up, and also
and endesss
line of shell carriers. The German
geens were constantly
hitting the
road, but instead of getting dfraid
and mixed up the traffic still
went on. Sometimes a gun and its
team would get hit there would be
a bit of a halt until they should
the broken geen and the dead over
the side of the road, then everything
went on as before.
When I got about two miles from
the front lines, I came across the
guns which had been brought up
during the night. They had been
placed in position just off the rad
and were blazing away
Farther down theve were eight
 

ench guns also out in the open We
must have had thousands of gens
on that sector,
Go ell there is very little else I can
tell you about that hart, except
Spres- which is only a heap of
mns. There isnt one building standing
in the whole of what was once a
beautiful touen. The streets are still
kept in good, order, and the cellars
are used for villeting troops. In some
places it is lerst like a town under
ground
There are heaps of things I would
like to tell you, but a person never
knows when a letter may be ahened
One thing I will say though is tha
our beys got cut to pieces in this last
affeir Battalion After Battalion, just
seemed to melt away before the
German Geins. And I know for a
fact that our guns fired about ten
times as much as sputz. so you
can form an idea of what it was
like
reached a dressing station about
2. 0. clock on the Saturday afternoon
 

about fifteen miles from the line, and
had my bit of a seratch seen to for
the first time. By word it was
lonely to get a nice hot drink of
tea dgain and everyone was so
good to us.
at eevery place we stopped we got
a drink of not tea and a bag of
biscuits. On the tran it was the
same, Con which we travelled all
the next day and part of the night
sabout midnight we landed d
sbbie Wan small towai the lower
part of the Sonme. I was there for a
coupl of weeks and then took the
train again for Darve, which we
reached after travelling all night.
We got on the boat at 9-0 clock
next morning and moved out into
the bay- where we stopped until
dark that inight.
When I wake up next imorning
we were off Southampton. Everyone
was quite plased, and even the ser-
louply wounded were quite cheer
lu
I know at one time I never expected
 

to see England again. We were not
shifted off the boat, until dark tha
night, and then had another trasn
rde until after midnight
It took us from Firday evening
untll nearly Worday morning to
reach, Horthempton from the Hospital
in Tnarce
The boat we came over in was the
Harralda, belonging to the Adelaids
P.D. Coy.
Well I dear ores I will draw thirt
Al Well
9

haping
and happy.
Yourtoningson & brother
John Hardie
 

On Active Service
WTATHTTTE BETISH
SONT

ENPEDIPONENEY POSGE
Northampton
October 30th 1917
Dear Everybody
gust a few limes to tell
you I am now in, England and getting on alright
I am still in Hospital but the wound
has healed up, in fact I was alright a week
after I got hit I would never have got across
here if it hadn't been for one of the nurses
in our ware who was an inistratiam
she used to do her best to get all the
cussies acroes. There seems to be a great
difference between our Nurses and the others.
Of course they are all very kind, but I would
rather be in an Australian Hospital at
anytime. Well I think I will now tell you
something about the place we were
fighting in as we are free from the censor
now The first time we went into the
line was on the 29th of September on the
Yfres side of Younebike Village, or rather
whre it used to be. Today there innt
even a heap of bricks. Well we held the from
line for two days and nights and then came back

 into the reserve lines, which is about the worst place

at the front as Fritz can shell you there without

being afraid of any dropping on his own lines.  

We were there for sometime doing night work, such as

eabas and carrying ammunition.  Then one night they shifted 

us back to the other side of Ypres ,

 that was when our corps captured Zonnebeke ,

Hell after the stunt we went up again to make roads to bring

to bring up the guns.  You just ought to see the state

the country is in, there i'snt one inch of it that hasn't 

been torn by shell fire of course it is our guns that do most of it.

The night we were making the road old Fritz sent over a few

shells as we were going up.  Our guns kept silent for a 

long time then suddenly they opened.

I think there were about a thousand guns firing over our heads, 

you can