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Transcription

[Page] 49
[continued from page 48]

month, I do not recollect such cold in Edinburgh
since the winter of 1894-5. On Friday 10 days ago
there fell 8 to 10 inches of snow, and as there was
a shortage of scavangers the mess in the
streets was awful. Fortunately the day after
the snowfall came a thaw and rain and
in a brief space all trace of the snow had
vanished. Isabella has been with us for a week.
& we took her to the Zoo this afternoon. It has
been a lovely mild day. Yesterday I dug man:
:ure into my allotment and have got that
unsavoury performance nearly finished.

21st. April 1918.
The winter has been long of passing; it is bitterly cold at
present and we woke yesterday morning to see snow
falling heavily, but luckily it did not lie.
The great German Offensive on the Western front burst
out on 21st. March and since then we have been
passing through the most critical days in the history
of the British Empire. Twice we have been within
an ace of sustaining serious disaster, and twice
has the unspeakable valour of our men held up
the thrust of the Hun when almost within sight of
complete success. We were led to believe that
our front at all points was so prepared & so
strong that a German rupture was well nigh
an impossibility; and the fear was freely

expressed that the Germans would not attempt an attack
so hopeless was their outlook. Nevertheless the storm burst
and by employing enormous masses of men, sent for:
:ward in dense formations in waves backed by a tremen:
:dous weight of artillery, the enemy attacking to the South
of Cambrai at the point of junction of the French & British
Armies overwhelmed our 5th Army under Gough, ruptured
our front and forced us to a retreat of some 15 – 20
miles over the old Somme battlefield. Fortunately our
line to N. and S. [North and South] held firm, and the Huns within a few
miles of Amiens, one of the main objectives have been
held up now for a couple of weeks without making any
progress. The German losses have been stupendous; ours
also have been heavy. Ten days or so ago a second
thrust was initiated further North, S. [South] of the Ypres salient,
at a point of our line held by the Portuguese. Though
resisting bravely they were overwhelmed, over 6000 being
taken prisoner, and the German wave swept forward
in the direction of the channel ports only some 50 miles
distant. Here also the flanks have held firm at Givenchy
and by the Messines Ridge, but in the North the Ridge has
been for the most part relinquished and we have with:
:drawn from Passchendale to make our line conform
to the retirement farther South on the Lys. A thrill of
anxiety passed through the country during these critical
days and I hear that in London the population
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  Transcribers who have contributed to this page.

Jane F Jamieson