On 4th July, the 30th Division was withdrawn to rest. In the summer of 1917, I left France hidden in the jacket of a young soldier going home to Rochdale on leave. Lancashire is now my home. That poor soldier was killed soon afterwards in the terrible battle of Passchendaele. Paddy survived the war.
Montauban today is a sleepy village, but the area abounds with beautifully kept military cemeteries.
This is based on The First Day on the Somme by Mr Martin Middlebrook. Kathleen Wood and Chelmsford CPL are grateful to him for allowing them to reproduce the story from the cat's point of view.