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May 17th Very cold. The explosion was at WANQUETIN & the village is almost wiped out & a great deal of damage done both to civilians & to our soldiers, including several of our battalion, some still unaccounted for. Capt Slade's billet blown in & Slade buried & dug out by two French women. I was there the day before & was just leaving for there this afternoon with Wilcocks when Sgt Peterson arrived & advised me not to go as there is still 8 tons of gun cotton & 1 truck of 15" shells to go off that could not be saved. So I did not go as it as not safe within two miles. Slade arrived in AVESNES at midnight with the wind up. Wrote M.

May 18th Showing Wilcocks around roads etc.

May 19th Cycled to WANQUETIN. Found Slade in bed recovering from effects of explosion. The village is in an awful condition, all the roofs stripped & a great many houses knocked down & the place strewn with nose caps, shrapnel & shell cases, etc. Went on to FASSEAUX

BC Archives, MS-2365 Box 2 File 2 / MOYLE, Theresa Susan Yoder, 1905 - . Victoria. / John Moyle, diary and enclosures, 1914 - 1928.