A French soldier wearing the uniform of 1914/1915 stands by the side of a water-filled shell crater.
Reverse:R. Guilleminot, Bœspnug et Cie. - Paris
"'I can see no excuse for deceiving you about these last four days. I have suffered seventh hell. I have not been at the front. I have been in front of it. I held an advanced post, that is, a 'dugout' in the middle of No-Man's land.' The dugout held twenty men 'packed tight,' he explained. 'Water filled it to a depth of 1 or 2 feet, leaving say 4 feet of air. One entrance had been blown in and blocked. So far, the other remained. The Germans knew we were staying there and decided we shouldn't.'"
British poet Wilfred Owen, Second Lieutenant in the 5th Manchesters, quoted in Martin Gilbert's The First World War. Owen's unit was in the line in Serre, immediately north of Beaumont-Hamel in the Somme sector. He had taken up the position on January 12, 1917 and stayed for 50 hours, returning on the 16th when he wrote to his mother. Owen continued, 'I nearly broke down and let myself drown . . .'
The First World War, a Complete History by Martin Gilbert, page 307, copyright © 1994 by Martin Gilbert, publisher: Henry Holt and Company, publication date: 1994
1917-01-15, 1917, January, Owen, Wilfred Owen, fortified crater, shell crater, crater, crater pool
