made it darker I decided to leave one company out of the dug outs that night, & not to put them in the next morning at 7am. Three companies had by dint of much scrambling & falling managed to get into the dug outs & the fourth company was left out. Punctually at 7am next morning I began to get the 4th Company into their places when no sooner had we started than the Germans began shelling just 2 hours before they usually began - everybody then got away under cover as soon as possible. I got into a hole with Captain Barrett until we could get an opportunity of getting to our proper places & after a bit we got back after a bit of dodging. As soon as I got to my own headquarters the shelling began harder than ever enormous shells were flying about & high trees were falling - this uproar went on for 3 hours - a good many men being wounded in feet & legs which they could not tuck in inside their dug outs. Luckily none of the big shells fell on my dug out - all this time we were in a wood & the reverberation of explosives was were intensified. As soon as the shelling stopped wounded men