We got our orders early in the morning to get across the Aisne, and
we had to turn out early. It was very cold, and there was a heavy
rain; but we got our pipes set a-going, and we were all right then.
When we got up the river the fun began. There were no bridges, but the
Engineers had made some rafts. Six men got on each raft, and with the
burden we were up to the knees in water, and we were hauled across
to the other side by a rope. When we got to the other side we got it
hotter than ever. Some time after this three of us were lying in a
field. I was smoking my pipe, and my chum was puffing at a cigarette.
The man next my chum hadn’t a match, and wanted a light badly, and
he got up to get a “touch” from my chum. As soon as he rose the poor
beggar was hit with a shell and killed: _Pte. Hamish, King’s Own
Scottish Borderers_.