Sunday 11th August 1918
Today there have been no attacks in the vicinity. The pause I mentioned a few days ago as being inevitable now seems to be here. Men continue to be alert and the artillery is being brought up and registered on new targets for another attack in a few days time. Everyone here feels that the next step will be a concerted assault on Albert.
This town was the stopping off point for many troops back in the days of the Battle of the Somme in 1916. Indeed the battle can be simplified as a push from Albert, up the Roman road to Bapaume. It had been occupied by the regiments from this country and its Empire since the early days of 1915 and its loss in March this year was a blow to the army's pride. T retake it would signify an important shift from an army on the defensive to one in all-out attack. Of course the town itself is now little more than a field of broken bricks, splintered wood, fragmented glass, maimed stone and bones. But it is still symbolic.
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