Up about 7 o’clock. On the double¹ as usual. On parade and put on the competition squad. Spent afternoon writing and made good progress with French. Heard of victory on the Somme.

British advance on Cambrai ². 8000 prisoners and many guns.

1. Double march, or run. See all diary entries tagged “double“. ↩

2. The Battle of Cambrai (commenced 20 November) is best known as the occasion when tanks were first used in adequate numbers; the few available in 1916 having had their secrecy blown by being tried prematurely on the Somme, and in 1917, still in small numbers, having been largely wasted in impractical ground conditions at Passchendaele. ↩