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got used to such things by this time, though not in such quantities. I never do any digging, if I can help it anywhere in this country. The beauty of it all was there was only French Artillery behind us, a and they gave us no support at all. We felt as if nobody loved us. Our own guns are in now and we feel happier, besides the trench is rapidly being made habitable. If we had protection from behind the casualties would have been small, as it is they are heavy. On the 5th night we were relieved and are in a deserted farm with our Batteries all round us, and Sentries looking for Germ aeroplanes, when one appears, they blow a whistle, and everybody stops still, without looking up, and as there are always about six machines round, we do not get far. We have been here two nights, and each night we heard the Germans attacking on our right. I am Platoon Sergeant now, in Bill's absence, and rather like the job. Do not get nervous, it is just bad luck if you get hit by shell fire. The moral effect is supposed to be the worst part. There were over 500 shells pitched into our three Companies, and the hits were few considering the trenches.

April 29th. At last I have a chance to tell you all about it. We are now resting near ** ** and have only been bombarded twice yesterday, and so far not at all today. Well to begin at the beginning. On the night of the 22nd, we were in billets, when about 5 P.M. huge clouds of greenish smoke were seen over our firing line on the left, and a tremendous bombardment commenced. All day the farms round us had been shot up some by Jack Johnsons, so we thought something was coming off. Sometime after a wounded Zouave came limping through, and was followed by straggling Algerians. We adopted

BC Archives, MS-1901 Box 1 File 10 / RUSSELL, Alma M., 1873-1964. Victoria; librarian. / Selected letters from Sergeant John Raymond McIllree, 1915.