On August 28, 1916, we were told to take over a series of food dumps
which had been formed in the front and support lines at Hamel, on the
Ancre, before a general attack came off.
On the following night Corporal W----, a true and gallant Cockney
who was in charge of a party going back to fetch rations, came to my
dug-out to know if there were anything special I wished him to bring.
I asked him to bring me a tin of cigarettes. On the return journey,
as the party was crossing a road which cut through one of the
communicating trenches, a shell struck the road, killing two privates
and fatally wounding Corporal W----.
Without a word the corporal put his hand into his pocket and, producing
a tin, held it out to an uninjured member of the party.
I got my smokes.--_L. J. Morgan (late Capt., The Royal Sussex
Regiment), 1 Nevern Square, S.W.5._