September 25, 1917
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A quiet day in regard to gas cases, but busy in other respects. Fritz shelled our neighbourhood heavily, and the road was blocked for sometime. He caught an ambulance and set it on fire early in the morning and then continued shelling the same place, catching about 8 motor lorries and several dumps besides blowing out several dugouts, one of ours being included. Quite the majority of our cases come from this area, wounded from the line being comparatively few. He also put over a lot of shrapnel, especially over Ypres, altogether it being a very hot morning. Only having 10 gas cases through, I helped with evacuation and unloading, etc.
Our gun fire on the quiet side. As I write this about 9 p.m. he has started again to put over some heavy stuff which is falling unpleasantly close. I still have to marvel at the way men can carry on under these conditions. After a while the majority produce a kind of indifference to it all, and move about freely while the shells are falling and see their comrades horribly mutilated in front of them. Some of the ambulance tyres show where they have been running through blood, and yet it makes no difference, the majority just carry on. Our Colonel was wounded to-day, and Major Metcalfe and several of our bearers, and a couple more killed, so many in fact that I have lost count.