Diary Entry - 11th September, 1916

The gas course finished in the afternoon with a demonstration of smoke cloud made by special candles and a thing called a pea bomb. Suttie and I rode back together in the afternoon and called at the brigade in Courcelles. We then came on via the 15th who had been shelled through the day. There seemed to be very little damage done, though the trees were slightly knocked about round the guns. There was one gun in a peculiar state. It had just come back from ordinance too. When fired, the shell used to go over and over, instead of gyrating in the usual manner. The gun on being examined was found to be badly worn at the breech end. The gas had been escaping past the shell and had worn out all the lands. When we got back to our battery, we had a look round the left section, as they had been shelled and, on doing so, had to take smart cover in a trench- in the process I caught my breeches on a spike and tore a big hole in them.