Arthur Douglas Crease Letters, Diaries and Scrapbooks
Letters from Arthur Douglas Crease of Victoria to his brother Lindley Crease and his mother Sarah Crease; instructions for the offensive of July 26, 1917; a regimental notebook, diaries and scrapbook. Learn more.
*All transcriptions are provided by volunteers, and the accuracy of the transcriptions is not guaranteed. Please be sure to verify the information by viewing the image record, or visiting the BC Archives in person.
BC Archives MS-0055; BC Archives MS-2879
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6 Sept. Marched off at 8 A.m. & camped in a wood beyond Courtray close to Valencourt.Fine view but dirty camp. Very heavy bombardment.
7 Sept. Cool & pleasant. Marched at 9:30 am to the Brickyard outside Albert - As we approached we sighted the ? statue of the Virgin on the spire of the basilica at Albert. The saying is that whoever shall drop this statue will lose the war Right margin The Basilica. Saw Gordon ?? with 7th Bn. Heard that Rupert Howard (88?) was killed last night with the 16 Bn who had a rough time.
8 Sept. Had a good sleep in our open air bivouac where we were encamped with about 2 other Bdes. No shells very near the camp. Went into Albert in am & retreat in a.m. & there saw Harb now in 16th Bn & heard about Howard. Did not see James at this time. In p.m. took outworking party with Bridgeman of 100 men to Pozières to dig cable trench. This had to be cut through old trench full of ancient "stiffs". Plenty of souveniers. image (my sleeping quarters) /image
BC Archives, MS-2879, Box 83, File 1 CREASE FAMILY "Diary of the War", diary and scrapbook of Arthur Douglas Crease, 1915-1919.