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...in our Company Mess (there are 6 of us) - such as cakes, and
also a few extras which we are able with difficulty to get from
villages near by, such as tinned fruit, tinned salmon or sardines
and vegetables.
A three-days-old newspaper usually drags through,
but I shall always be glad to get papers or magazines of any
description.
We are in these “alleged” trenches for a week, and
hope to get relieved on Sunday night. They are more breast-
works than trenches, and are by no means sound. We spend all
spare time strengthening and repairing them.
At one point we are right close up to the Germans,
and can hear them quite plainly at times. It rained hard last
night, and the "ditches" were in a frightful mess this morning –
literally over the boot-tops in mud everywhere.
I think, considering that the British have held
them for many months, that the Regiments who have been in before,
ought to have seen to it, that they were well-drained, bomb-proof,
and comfortable long ago; I suppose the explanation is that one
Regiment only occupies this part of the line for a short period
at a time, and they don’t like wasting time improving trenches
for someone else’s benefit. The last lot that the 14th were
in, were absolutely top-notch. Properly drained, boarded and
concreted, and in every way comfortable and safe; but, you see,
a Territorial Brigade had been there for two months, and had
taken real pains to get their quarters jolly good. These were...
