Diary Entry - 2nd December 1916

Bee: On our way to rest. A very frosty night and just as hard as ever. We had an early start, breakfast at six thirty am. Which was very rushed as, instead of the servants calling us at five fifty, they did not do so until six twenty. This always happens, and always will ,I suppose. Of course, they could not get any water, as all taps and pipes were frozen, but as it was we got away on time, although we did not have Dickson, the cook, or Byard. I rode Walrond's horses and set sail from the Mess at 8 am. The mare I was riding is a very hot-headed thing and she shied and we hit a gunner broadside who was on a heavy draught, which frightened the life out of him, but he managed to stick on. We marched as a division and set sail, we leading our Brigade, at ten a.m. The genereal and our colonel - who, by the way, was changed while I was on leave, and we now have Col Groschen, who seems a very good fellow - well, they had a look at us as we passed. The general did not pass any opinion but the colonel had one or two small worries, such as packing kits tidily on the wagons and such things. We came along without a hitch. The roads were in fine condition as were frozen enough to keep the mud solid. We came via Louvencourt, Sarton, and finished up at Authieule at two pm. Watering was about half a mile from the lines, in buckets, and took some time, as the horses were very thirsty, not having had water since four p.m. the day before. The men have billets, just roofs, but the ground is dry. We have a billet but not a very cheery room, as it has no fire place and the night has every prospect of being damn cold.