Called up at 7 in the morning and told to fall in at 8. I rode on a lorry again with the quartermaster’s staff. We left about 9 o’clock (the men marched off shortly after 8 o’clock) and arrived at Fins about 4 o’clock¹. We had rather a miserable journey through the most desolate and blasted country. The men arrived about 7 o’clock after 10 hours marching and were very much done up². They had had no dinner, the same as yesterday. Got into miserable cold billets, just canvas shelters. I was put on guard and did from midnight until 4 o’clock. Very cold in bed and my feet nearly frozen.

1. Fins (B): 16km SE. of Bapaume, on the Péronne – Cambrai road; Michelin square K7, and about 30km from Courcelles-le-Comte (A). “Fins” inserted in longhand above “at about” by ALL ↩

2. “Done up”: Exhausted. ↩