other, Cheshires, only about half that number.

On further consideration of the situation, I settled to make Brigade
Headquarters at the Beukenhorst Chateau,[18] half a mile farther back,
and started the R.E. and a strange fatigue party to dig a funk-hole
for us in front of it in case it were badly shelled; but I remember as
a particular grievance that when the foreign fatigue party heard they
were to go somewhere else, they went off, leaving their work half
undone, and with our Brigade tools, though I had given them distinct
orders to do neither of these things. But they were now out of my
jurisdiction, so nothing could be done except to send them a message
to return our tools--which they never did.

[Footnote 18: "Stirling Castle" on our present maps.]

Moulton-Barrett turned up in the afternoon with a basket of cold food
for us, and took St Andre away; it was not the least necessary for him
to stay, as the dug-out was really only big enough for two, so
Weatherby and I settled down for the night. We had wanted to move
into the chateau at 7 P.M., but we could not. For it was not advisable
as long as an attack was imminent; also, M. B. had not got our message
of that morning saying we wanted him to clean up the chateau for us;
and thirdly, the Bedford relief was taking place. So we settled to
move next day instead.

But it was not very attractive living in the tiny dug-out. We had no
servants, we had to prepare our own food and wash up afterwards; it
was frightfully cramped, and we were always getting half-empty
sardine-tins oozing over official documents, and knives and forks lost
in the mud and straw at the bottom, and bread-crumbs and fragments of
bully beef and jam mixed up with our orders and papers; and it was not
at all healthy going for a stroll as long as the sun was up because of
the bullets and shells fizzing about. Altogether, although it was no
worse, except as regards size, than other dug-outs, it was not
luxurious; and as for washing, a little water in the bottom of a
biscuit-tin was about all we could manage, whilst a shave was a matter
of pain and difficulty.

_Nov. 7th._

We had now come under the 3rd Division (under General Wing
temporarily--a very good and charming fellow, a gunner, who had taken
over General Hubert Hamilton's command, the latter having been killed,
I forgot to mention, some time previously), whilst the 9th Brigade had
relieved the 6th Cavalry on the previous day. T