“One day whilst in the reserve trenches near La Bassee, four of us were in a dug-out when a Boche shell burst on the top and smashed in our dug-out, and we were buried alive. My three companions started to try to make themselves heard, and then to start trying to dig themselves out. Knowing the impossibility of so doing, I started to pray, knowing my God was able to hear and answer prayer.
“My comrades interrupted and asked, ‘Couldn’t I get something done? but, believing that digging was impossible’ I kept on praying. Then we started to sing, and we sang praises unto God, and the strangeness of hearing hymns sung attracted the attention of the other men of my section to our plight, and they started to try and dig us out; and after being buried for about twenty minutes we were lifted out, proving the Word of God to be sure: ‘Thou shalt be delivered.’ As we got into the trench we just knell down and thanked God that once again He had done great things for us whereof we were glad, so that in confidence we had put our faith in Him. ―CORPORAL JOHN ROBERTS.”