This is an extract from Arthur Linfoot’s own transcription of his diary, written in 1976.

Reveille 4 a.m. Breakfast 4.30. Fell in at 6 and marched off to Longpre. Got there at 8. Had choice of 3rd class carriages or horse boxes and chose horse boxes. Left Longpre about ten and passed through Boulogne and St. Omer. A mule got loose, fell off its truck in a tunnel and was killed. Arrived Bailleul about 9 p.m. Unloaded waggons and mules off trucks in the dark and a mule fell into a ditch. Took half an hour to get it out. Marched off about ten and had one rest. Stayed at a farm barn for the night. Midnight when we got down. Very tired and slept well, on straw.