"So, the Germans started to rain shells into us but then our artillery opened fire on the German trenches. The row was awful. The whole sky was just in one great blaze with bursting shells.
Sharp at three o'clock the order came down our lines to fix bayonets and to load our rifles and 10 minutes later down came the order to charge so we rushed over the trench but a good few of our boys fell on the parapet as the Germans had their machine-guns trained on us but on we went and as one fell, another took his place.
We arrived at the German trench and when it came to the steel they could not match us and I am proud to say that I put a few out with the bayonet myself. Although one does not think of it at the time, one does think of it after the excitement is over. We took over 200 prisoners and a couple of machine-guns. I sent home a German sword.
But we were not satisfied with one trench. We went on and took two more lines of them. They shelled us the whole day after we took them and they eventually sent loads of gas but we stuck on for what we had so dearly won. I was buried three times by shells and had to be dug out and I got a slight bullet wound in the thigh but I am out of hospital again and expect to go into action in a couple of days' time." - Cpl. Robert Platt, 2nd Royal Irish Rifles, France 1915 #stayzero #zerofoxtrot #reality #ww1