Diary Entry - 7th December, 1916

Bee: I saw the Colonel and he told me that our men were moving out of half of their billet, which would make a recreation room and our OMS stores were to be the canteen. I started to work to get things going. All I had to start with was a Bombardier and gunner and two rooms. I went around borrowing money from the various batteries and at eleven a.m. riding to St Riquier with my first order. It is about 10 miles. I placed a 1,000 franc order on the counter and all they could give me was 400-worth. A bit of a blow after riding all that way, but I soon saw how hard it was going to be to get the stuff - from Doullens to the sea, every town is full of soldiers out of the line and the demand is greater than the supply. The stuff I did get, I had to fight for, as I had no conveyance to take it away and even while I was there they could have sold it three times over. I got back about four p.m and told the Colonel how hard it was to get stuff and he had great hopes of getting a lorry