Although orderly officer for the day, Sherriff was off duty until 12:00 (when he had to attend the issuing of rations to the men), so took a few moments to write to his mother. He had clearly been discomfited by suggestions that the Battalion would soon be on the move back to the front:

‘We have been out in rest for nearly 3 weeks, and there are always rumours of our leaving here – once it was last Thursday and now there is a strong rumour of leaving either tomorrow [Wednesday] or Thursday. That is the most unpleasant part of the rest – the continual rumours – and you can never tell when the order may come round. The only thing is to hope for the best and that it may last for some time yet. I am hoping that we may possibly get a month altogether.’

Thanking her for the tin of cigarettes she had sent him he said it was a treat to get ‘good English cigarettes’, instead of the ‘rubbishy kinds’ he could get in France. He had also bought himself a new white cigarette holder, since the previous one he had bought was rather worn out.

He told her, as he had Pips the previous day, about his recent trip into St Omer to do some shopping, and about how he had travelled by means of ‘a funny little train, just like the Selsey railway, which was very slow.’ And then he mentioned that he was no longer wearing an undervest as the weather was so warm – which was a good thing, he wrote, because it meant he had less washing to look after.

Between starting his letter and finishing it later in the day the rumours about their imminent departure had grown in strength, so that it was now ‘almost certain we are off again tomorrow’. He tried to be stoic as always: ‘I expect everything will be bustle and confusion for the next few days. I hope you will not worry, dear – whatever happens is, as it were, decided by fate first, so just patiently wait and I will do my best to bear everything that happens.’

[Next letter: 9 May]