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Date: January 18th 1918
From
D. Lynn Dudley
Letter

SOLDIERS' LETTERS. (FROM FRANCE)

An Officer tells of Passchendale

Lieut. D. Lynn Dudley of the 4th Canadian Trench Mortar Battery, France, son of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Dudley, Newcastle, writes a friend as follows:

Any person who went through that Passchendale Advance can safely say we went through more mud and shell fire, than was ever experienced in this God-forsaken hole called Europe.

Although we went through a great many hardships, it is impossible to imagine what the Germans had to contend with. They were in a great deal more mud and water than we, and it was simply impossible for man or beast to live under shell fire. The ground we advanced over was simply one mass of dead 'Hunies' so you will have some idea of the number of men they lost. One prisoner who was captured said the Germans thought the Canadians were superhuman, and would not face them at all. It certainly looked like it, they way they disappeared when we started after them.