Diary Entry - 29th December, 1915

I spent a quiet but interesting day at the O.B. I could not do much shooting, as we have had a large total – oh no, I am mistaken it is the first day that I have not had to restrain from firing. In the early hours, a fire could be seen behind Les Brique, so we loosed off a few, just to show the Bosch there was someone in the O.B., early as it was, but I tried two targets at this fire and seemed to get well over it and was astonished it was not put out. I left it alone at that and afterwards found it was the remains of a haystack set on fire the night before. At eleven, I could hear the Major passing orders down the telephone and saw him shooting at a machine gun emplacement with H.E. He gave them a few to stir the sandbags up. Suttie came up for lunch, and we enfiladed some of the trenches in front of the dump with the 71s and roused the Bosch. During the morning, some bullets whistled past the front of the O.B. from our left flank and I think there were too many adjacent ones for them to be accidents. Me thinks a Bosch sniper is lurking behind the parapet on our right. Just before three, I discovered that smoke was issuing from a green dugout on the fringe of Auchy, a target which had many rounds of H.E. spent on it. I got No. 4 onto it and put two plumb into it, but, as it only made it smoke more, I left it alone. Just before packing up, on looking round with the glasses, I see the shovels working very hard in the Bosch trenches at Mine Point, so No. 6 is made to bark and the work ceases. However, after quarter of an hour, they begin again, so we keep them busy with shrapnel about every 10 minutes until it gets dark. On the way down from the O.B., just after passing Harley Street, a veritable cannonade is set up by Bosch somewhere near the Hohenzollern Redoubt, and it continues very strongly for an hour. On enquiring the cause, find Bosch has blown up two mines on that front. On arriving at the Mess, I find Pipsqueak has arrived to take Ormonde's place.