Chateau-de-la-Hai. Rourke wins 100 + 220. Shelley 1 mile + relay. ambulances win football + loose baseball, 1 boxing Yass [?] looses on a foul blow. Lunch at Chateau, supper at 4 winds 4 PM. Wed July 11 Plenty of rain all day Thursday July 12 ambulance beats 12th Batt at football Friday July 13 Kit inspection. Hell of a row. Saturday July 14 another Kit inspection. All brass cleaned back + front, A section get off in 15 minutes. Capt Hereughton [?] keeps C section 2 hours on parade + raises the Dickens. Sunday July 15 Mass at Camblain - d. Abbey. receive Communion. Monday July 16 Route. Four winds all day. Tuesday July 17 Paid $30.00 - Belle’s birthday - Wed July 18 more rain, in bunk house all day. Thursday July 19. We march to Hersin to free, our boys beat the 44. 2 hours play. Bert Simmons beats
▸ Where was he?
▸ The war at this time
Waiting for Third Ypres
July 1917 sees intense preparation for the Flanders offensive. Over 3,000 guns are massed around the Ypres salient. A two-week preliminary bombardment will fire millions of shells at German positions. The Germans are well aware an attack is coming. They have constructed deep concrete bunkers and fortified positions in depth. The flat, low-lying ground around Ypres depends on drainage systems that years of shelling have destroyed.
