in which Carroll slept with two machine
gunners. I was going to sleep there too, and as I have a new officer,
Ingle, with me he was going to sleep there. But by the greatest stroke
of good fortune I spotted this one just near. It is the best dug-out I
have ever had. The other dug-out is swarming with mice and rats, who
scratch earth into you all the time, and come and expire on you at
night. One fell down and died on the table while we were having tea.
But in this I have only seen one mouse so far, and it has got about
ten feet of solid earth over it. I sleep on a comfortable folding bed,
in my clothes, of course. It is well back six or seven hundred yards
from the firing line. The firing line is more unhealthy than other
trenches we have been in. They will keep sending the oil cans I told
you of over into the front line. If you manage to get away from them
round a traverse they come rolling round the corner after you; I don't
love them at all. I have got "Printer's Pie," and I am just going to
put up some pictures and am then going to bed. I relieved Carroll, and
have been messing around since. I went down to the firing line for an
hour or two to go to each emplacement and see how the men who were
firing the guns were getting on, and then came back and observed their
fire just outside my dug-out; there is our observation post from which
you can see our own lines and the Bosche lines for miles. I have just
been down to one of our ammunition dug-outs, seeing 100 rounds put in
that a fatigue party had brought up. Friday 10 to 12. Good-night,
Mother mine.

Had a comfortable night, but, as it was rather cold, I have had my
sleeping bag brought up for to-night, so I shall be all right. Fuller
was late this morning, so I had to wait impatiently for my boots and
puttees to be cleaned before I could get up, consequently we did not
have breakfast till nearly 10-0 o'clock. After breakfast Ingle and I
went round all our emplacements. We had quite an interesting time, as
in one place where the trench is not occupied, and up which we have to
go to one emplacement, one of our field gun batteries put four shots
into the trench about 10 yards behind Ingle and knocked him over, then
a rifle grenade landed nearly at my feet and kindly failed to go off.
We returned in time for a late scrappy lunch at 2-30. When I was
intending to have a nap and a read when one of the Northumberland
Fusiliers officers, Bowkett, turned up with Kitty to see