We moved back up to the front line the night before the big attack and stayed the night in the tunnels under the Ridge. We had to walk through water up to our hips to get past the support line which was "music-hall Trench. The attacking troops going in on that line had to wade through that water and then stand all through the cold night in the jumping-off trenches soaking wet, loaded like mules with full battle-kit, extra ammunition, hand grenades, etc. packed like sardines, packed tight one against another waiting and watching for dawn and"zero hour" then "over the top"and God knows what!

Artillery fire into the enemy lines had been continuous for three weeks prior to the attack. I do not believe there was any portion of that time when there were no shells streaming over our heads to their lines and back areas. Most of it must have been pretty big stuff as we did not hear the guns much, just the shells whistling overhead.

The first attacking waves went over about 5 a.m. on Monday, April 9th, 1917. The creeping-barrage of shell fire that moved ahead of them was terrific but so was the shell-fire coming our way. My partner and I went over with the next wave and started organizing working and stretcher parties of prisoners, getting the wounded down to the dressing stations in the tunnels under the Ridge, helping the walking wounded and marking the location of the more seriously wounded by sticking ridges into the ground by the bayonet.

It is not an easy thing to go around among your friends of the day before lying there face up and in all manner of grotesque shapes. It is not a thing you soon forget. The only good thing I know to come out of War is learning how much better than you the other fellow is.

That Easter Monday and the succeeding days developed into cold bleak days with considerable snow. On one of our trips we stopped to watch Fritz blowing up the coal-mines in his back areas. My partner suddenly crumpled and fell at my feet, shot over the heart by a sniper.