November 17th 1915
Today, we went over the top into No-Man's Land. Through the craters and the bogs and over the barbed-wire, towards the Germans. Two of my men were blown to bits by a bloody German sniper. We ran forwards, men getting shot down as we ran. We were charging along with 12 other Battalions, each one suffering considerable damage to their ranks. We didn't get very far before the General gave the order to retreat. We turned and reatreated to our front line trenches, still more men getting cut down by the German machine gunners. Eventually, we made it back to the trench. Only 8 of our 19 men made it back alive. Two of those 8 are seriously injured and are going to the field hospital tomorrow, including my mate Jimmy Bradthorpe. We should be getting some more troops to help the cause soon.
