by ADC (Passed by Censor)
This is a personal indulgence by Mike Chew who read the article – of which this passage is just the beginning – in the Oxford High School Magazine of December 1916. He left it to others to react in their own way.
September 27th 1916
I had the greatest day of my life the day before yesterday when we went over the top.
We were attacking a Bosch position in a sunken road just in front of a village. We went forward under a perfect barrage in four lines, fifty yards apart, for 700 yards. The artillery was perfect and the men were great. They went over just as if they were on parade.
The sight of our men was too much for the old Bosch, and they were running forward “Kamarading” for all they were worth. We sent them back to the rear, where they were employed in bringing in our wounded. One or two wounded Bosch started firing at our men when they had passed, so our men “saw them off” sharp. We got our objective, and another regiment passed through and took the village.
We found a lot of stuff in the Bosch dug-outs, cigars, cigarettes, drinks &c., and heaps of souvenirs. Our men were in great form and we had a job to get them to stop. The Bosch have little fight left, and a German officer said both the civil and military of Germany were heartily sick of the war and wished it all over.
Keep cheery, for I am in the best of health and quite happy, temporarily in command of my Company.
This is a fraction of the whole letter