Diary Entry - 18th December, 1915

A very foggy day – in fact, on reaching the O.B. I found it impossible to see the ground from upstairs. The morning passed very slowly, and I whiled away the time by trying to read and keep warm beside a small brazier. At twelve thirty, the fog lifted and the trees of Les Bruque could just be seen through the fog, but it only remained clear until two. We had to have a signaller out at the trenches all the morning, in case of an attack and, as soon as I told him he could come in, it thickened over again. However, I made the night telephonists start early for the trenches and, as soon as they got there, at three forty-five, I came down, as observation was impossible. On reaching the Mess, I found it full of attachés from a Ks battery, four all told, with Hoyland entertaining. As soon as I had paid my respects, I retired and had a shave and brush up and found them hard at tea when I came back. These people are a dame nuisance, as they crowd us out of our Mess. It was not designed for seating nine persons, and we had a lot of trouble in finding billets for them. After dinner, Siggers walks in, having returned from leave. He did not get to Béthune till eight, and it only took him an hour to get out here on his horse. It was rather amusing: one of the attachés, a Canadian, arrived without any blankets or bedding at all, and he was going to lay himself down on a waterproof sheet on the bricks, but we managed to raise a blanket for him. The gas attack was again postponed, the wind being unfavourable.