Lying on straw in a huge shell-torn barn: guns banging around us and shells (drat ‘em) whistling over every few minutes and exploding as with the threat “nearer next time”. Spent all day trudging about the North of France looking for the battery and haven’t found it yet. The only N.Z. battery we located (a party of whom had just finished burying 30 killed last night)* could not put us on the right track.
* On 4 November the N.Z. Division attacked and successfully captured Le Quesnoy, a fortified town. This was to be the last significant action by the Division in the war. The deaths referred to by Lincoln were potentially some of those suffered during the attack. J.R. Bryne’s New Zealand Artillery in the Field, 1914-18 (1922, Auckland), records:
The enemy’s fire was comparatively feeble, but a good deal of hostile fire fell on battery areas. The 9th Battery had two guns put out of action, and “D” Battery of the 211th Brigade had five guns destroyed in succession, and practically the whole of its personnel casualtied. Heavy shelling was also experienced at the waggon lines of the 11th Battery, more than fifty horses having been killed and wounded. (p.291)
Walk March 