Diary of Alexander Sutherland Mackay, 15 June 1917 - 26 October 1917 - Part 5

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15/10/17. Nothing doing on our
side, we are simply replying to
S.O.S. calls, if any. Fritz has been
going consistently all round the

Battery, luckily no casualties. Several
dugouts & the fitters outfit blown
in the air, during the fellows absence
Every morning just before daybreak
he sends over gas shells, the wet
weather has killed these to a great
extent. That also is the one
advantage of the slush, not nearly
so many splinters flying
16/10/17. Practically a repetition of
yesterday. Fritz barking a treat,
our heavies only replying occasionally.
We havent fired a shot the last two
days, we were in hopes we were to

be relieved by the Canadians, they
came in this afternoon but apparently

75

went up to relieve the Tommies. You
never know what the programme is,
when the roads are made, we pray go
forward or go out. The air is full
of planes lately, saw 2 of our & one
Fritz come to grief the last two days.
All our men are knocked up, swollen
feet, colds & sore eyes - the latter I
fancy from washing in shell hole water.
My prize is a good old cold, wet
feet for over a week, tends to take
the spark out of a fellow.
 [* 4pm to 5.30 am*]

76
17/10/17. Fritz has been again at
it solidly all day long, two fellows
got slight leg wounds from ^shell splinters.
One hit my tin helmet, as I decided
to stick to the dugout until the
lulls arrived - not of frequent occurrence
I assure you. The Canadian Artillery
are all coming up, so evidently a
fresh stunt to get this "Paschendale"
is to come off. It looks as if we are
a cert to take a hand. If fine
weather set in, Fritz would simply
have to get, its solely the slush he
has to thank for not being further
back. His aeroplanes visit us almost
daily on bombing expeditions but
generally they simply waste bombs.
18/10/17. Put in a miserable day. Fritz
shelling solidly, killing one of our men
& wounding another. Our guns appear
77

to be only operating at night time, during
the day, its not safe to go outside for
flying splinters. We are like a lot of
rabbits in their holes Hope to goodness
another stunt takes place shortly, & so
ends this continual bombardment on
his part. We also then have a hope
of getting out. They are relieving the
gunners now every four days or so,
being Battery clerk, I've no hope
Ive had a very solid spin, with
the exception of two nights they pulled
out to the Waggon Lines. lve been under
shell fire since the 11^th of last month
& fairly consistent at that.
19/10/17 Got a new bunch of home
letters today - 3 from Elsie, two from Lib
one from Doug & one from little Lorna
Fritz still plugging away, two of our
guns have been knocked & 5 of the
 

78
108^th The continual shelling is getting
one one's nerves, if the weather only keeps
fine, he will get all back with interest.
Evidently this week, he is ignoring
the Infantry, paying all attenttion to the
Artillery. The wet weather saved him
last stunt I sincerely hope he hasn't
the same luck this time
20/10/17. The O/C is sending me down
to the Waggon Lines tonight, my
cold is absolutely rotten, voice
completely gone again. Fritz lobbed

a 5.9 almost on top of our pillbox
this morning, he is now barraging

all round the pillboxes. We sneaked
off to a flank but returned as these
appear as safe as any place. The
trouble is Fritz, built these boxes
& knows the exact range to them

He got another of our guns last
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night & if we dont pull out he
is shot bird to get the other three.
21/10/17. Down at the Waggon lines
& what a relief it is to walk about as
you please. Fritz came over bombing
last night but not very close to
our lines. He got another gun after

I left the Battery. I hear we will
all be pulling out tomorrow for

a spell; I sincerely hope its true
Went on sick parade this morning but
you get little satisfaction from the
medics - a few pills then "Next please."
No examination unless you go up
about a dozen times.
22/10/17 Had a fairly miserable day
with my cold, can't even talk. The
Quack yesterday put me medicine
& duty ^not attended a single parade
 

80
since I came down, simply stuck
in the tent. Nobody seems any the
wiser, so no harm is done. We
are all pulling out tomorrow
morning I'm pleased to say, back
Steinwerck, I hear. What a
relief it will be to gt back into
civilization, footpaths a few shops,
a haircut & bath. Fritz gave our

position at the Battery hell last
night, from all accounts, our G.S
waggon was sent up to bring
the mens kits down, but owing to
the shells had to unhook & leave
it. When they went back, they
found somebody had shook it. They
found the culprit in the 107 Battery,
they were just scraping the name off
It was rather amusing, especially
considering this same waggon

81

was shook by our fellows from the DAC
about a fortnight ago & repainted. No
doubt its a sight up there, motor cars

motor lorries, waggons pillboxes, bikes
harness tools of every description lying
all over the shop. At the guns, one imagines
Fritz is solidly after you but as you come
back & see the network of huge guns, some
of which it takes a windlass to load one
shell, & thousands of men all at various
occupations, you simply wonder how such
a war could occur in this alleged
civilized world. Fritz was bombing
solidly again last night, more towards
Ypres, I heard the swabs unload their
bundles about three times before I got to
sleep.
23/10/17 Pulled out to a camp about 3 kilos
from Bailleul today, a fairly tedious
crossing, drizzling all the time. Every two
 

82
yards we had to pull up, owing
to the enormous quantity of traffic

on the road However its delightful
to get away from shells & bombs for
a period.
24/10/17. Bitterly cold wind blowing
today, its drying up the ground
fairly well. Its awful not being able

to [[operate?]], in addition to yourself
it makes [[everybody?]] [[tired?]]. Thank
goodness we are in huts here, so one
can get a dry camp.
25/10/17. Taken into the office here
today, so I escape night guards
Rained all last night, ground
again as bad as ever.
26/10/17. Rained all day today,
 ordingry routine day. We appear

to be only held here in reserve
[[being?]] shift anyday.