Private Stan Blay

Well away we went and we got severely shelled going across the fields up to the track. We came out at this track, we were going along there and we came out there and there was a load of shells that come down all among us, don’t think anyone got hurt then or not but when I picked up, I put my gun down and I thought it was just a puddle but it was a crater more than anything else because it was all covered with mud so I had to take the magazine out, give it a shake because the working parts were full of mud like, but any way I put it on and this is when I made my fatal mistake, the others had passed me while I was doing this and ran to catch my section up which was leading section and I had just about caught them up and we saw ahead of us all these coloured lights. I remember saying to this chap "That is pretty, isn’t it" and we suddenly realised they were tracers and down we went. Well then we discovered our Corporal who was leading the company had been severely wounded. Any way we got up to where it was and we tried to, well make him comfortable and we could not get any further. What had happened, we had run into some tanks and they were between us and the caves and that is far as we went. Well eventually the Company Commander crawled up and said "Look, get back to a house, there is a house way back on the track", knew where he meant because we had passed it a short while ago and my platoon commander said to me "Look, have you got your gun? "Look can we take Corporal Kurzer with us?" "Yes, if you can manage him", he said. So I said "Will you take my gun?" and he said yes. So he took my bren and myself and an Irish chap Mac somebody, Macdermot, and we tried to drag this chap back with us but he was too heavy and too badly wounded you know. Well in that time all the others had gone back along this track and gathered where they were to. We sort of tried to get our bearings. Every time we moved, something went bang, something fired and we thought well we are in a bit of a fix. Anyway when it started getting light a barrage from the 25 pounders [anti tank guns] came down but it was smoke you know and the place was full of smoke.