1917 original pen and ink drawing of a sentry in the dunes of the Belgian coast viewing a ship on the horizon. Possibly by W Wenber, Leading Seaman.
Gescreiben den . . . 1917 (Written the . . . 1917; printed text, the '7' handwritten)Küstenwacht an der belgischen Küste Gaz. A. Wenber ObermatroseCoastguard on the Belgian Coast, by? W Wenber, Leading Seaman
"August 5th, our first fine day. The weather broke just after we entrained to come north. Until yesterday it has rained almost continuously, at time very heavily, but with a blessed absence of mud, the soil being pure sand.—A great strafe has started Ypres way: it did not quieten down for 48 hours."
Entry for August 5, 1917 from the writings — diaries, letters, and memoirs — of Captain J.C. Dunn, Medical Officer of the Second Battalion His Majesty's Twenty-Third Foot, the Royal Welch Fusiliers, and fellow soldiers who served with him. Dunn arrived in Dunkirk on the English Channel coast on August 1, the second day of the Third Battle of Ypres, a day of which Dunn wrote, 'Never in Europe have I seen a heavier downpour of rain than fell on us.' The rain stifled British hopes, already disappointed in the failure to reach the goals of July 31. On arrival in Dunkirk, Dunn moved up the coast to Bray-Dunes, on the Belgian border, roughly 40 km. from Ypres.
The War the Infantry Knew 1914-1919 by Captain J.C. Dunn, page 371, copyright © The Royal Welch Fusiliers 1987, publisher: Abacus (Little, Brown and Company, UK), publication date: 1994
1917-08-05, 1917, August, Belgian dune watch
