Sherriff told Pips that he was no longer with the training Battalion, but had been rushed up near the line again. By the time he arrived his Battalion had just been relieved in the front line by the 8/Royal West Kents, following a remarkable day, during which they had occupied the enemy’s trenches unopposed.

The Battalion Diary reports that on the previous day (the 13th), the Battalion had suffered no firing from the enemy trenches – ‘no trench mortars, no machine guns, and practically no sniping’ – just long distance shelling. At 3.00pm that day a British airplane had flown over the German trenches and had not been fired on at all, and at 4:30pm word had come through from Brigade to suggest that the Germans had retired from the front. Each company therefore sent out a fighting patrol which crossed No Man’s Land in safety, followed by the remainder of the company. They then pushed on again, making considerable progress and capturing German weaponry and ammunition which had been left behind, ‘suggesting of a hurried retreat’.

When he came up Sherriff remained behind with the transport at the Doctor’s recommendation, because of a recurrence of his extreme nervousness:

‘I cannot describe the feelings you go through when unfortunate enough to suffer from nerves – I absolutely could not bring myself to face the line again and I went to a Doctor and explained everything to him and he has given me a few days rest at the transport – but you cannot rest – it is impossible with the thought that you have got to go up the line in a day or so – there can be few things worse than this nerve failure and of course Doctors are suspicious as you have nothing to show for your trouble…I am perfectly well bodily, it is only this awful mental torture – the knowledge that you absolutely cannot face a thing – I have never felt this so much as at the present moment.’

He told Pips that he had received a good haul of interesting long letters the previous evening, and apologised that his own letters in return seemed so short, and lacking in news. ‘I wish I had more to write about – but even in this way I cannot concentrate my mind sufficiently to write long letters, so I hope you will be satisfied with these.’

[Next letters: 17 April]