Diary Entry - 6th December, 1915

My day for duty at the guns. There was very little doing in the morning and only loosed off about 20 rounds. After breakfast at nine, having inspected the men and seen that they were all fairly respectable, Siggers takes me round the guns to test the range drums, a simple proceeding, which I'm not quite clear about. The only gun wrong is No. 6, and it is firing about 50 yards too far. The rest of the morning is spent in the telephone dugout, reading an army book on horses (very dry rot). The afternoon is spent in much the same way, but the weather becomes bad and it rains very hard for about two hours. Suttie, Siggers and Hoyland spend the afternoon in Béthune, returning for tea, loaded up with fig and other luxuries for the evening dinner. Great preparations are made for dinner after that, and the guests finally arrive at eight; they are Rodd (adjutant of the 41st Brigade) and Reeves (the orderly officer of same brigade). A doctor was to have been present but failed us at the last moment. The dinner was a great success with even hors d'oeuvre and tinned pheasant on the programme. At ten, when the port was on, it was suggested (as prearranged) that we should strafe Auchie, so the required orders were given. The visitors were greatly impressed with the efficiency of the battery, as gunfire began about 15 seconds after the order was given. Gramophone, and Siggers on the piano, finished up the evening, the latter supported by five or more very throaty voices, and so we went on till twelve, when everyone retired to bed.