10th March 1918 Sunday

A Sleepless Night Under Heavy Fire

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“Sunday, March 10th was an anxious day for us all, as word had leaked out that the Germans were to launch a huge attack against us that day. I was awake all the previous night during which the Huns continuously shelled all our back roads, especially around ‘Diarrhoea’ and ‘Laparotomy Corners’. He also put a lot of gas shells around us. About 5 o’clock there was a terrific bombardment on our left which lasted for an hour. The Germans raided the 13th Royal Welsh Fusiliers, and captured 1 offficer (Jones), and five men. They also killed 21 of our men and wounded 31 others. It was a nasty business.”

The mention of Diarrhoea and Laparotomy Corners, were clearly local names recognised by the men in the area but not included in the contemporary trench maps. Obviously named because of the conditions experienced in the locations.

The 13th RWF recorded the events thus:

Extract from the 13th Royal Welsh Fusiliers Regimental Diary

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7354150

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