‘I am now back in the line again,’ wrote Sherriff to his father, ‘and yesterday we had a pretty rough day, Fritz wanting to give us a New Year’s greeting, I suppose….[but] we survived it alright and today (up till now) we are having a quiet day.’

It was a ‘change’ to be back with the infantry, he wrote, and although he preferred the freedom and ‘greater leisure’ of the RE, he observed [stoically, as always] that it was infantry work he had come out to France to do, so there was no point in regretting things. And hopefully, in a few weeks, they would be rotated out for some rest.

He warned Pips not to expect any long letters while he was in the line, because ‘there is constant work to be done and hours of duty as well’. He went on to describe his current living arrangements:

‘At present I am sleeping in a dugout where the duties of signalling, cooking, sleeping, eating and many other functions are carried out – all the officers of the Company have their Mess together except those on duty, but we all sleep in the most convenient place for our men if we are wanted – the result is that I have had the painful necessity of intruding into the signallers’ bed and they have to sleep on the floor – it is rather unpleasant to do this but it is ordered that it should be, and I am writing this lying on a sort of shelf like [in] a ship’s cabin which is quite comfortable if it were not for the crowd in it.’

On a more optimistic note, he observed that he had now been in France for over three months, and might hope to be eligible for leave at some point (even if it was ‘not nearly in sight yet’). He thanked Pips for the long letters he had received describing his Xmas ‘adventures’, which had been very interesting. ‘I always look forward to your letters more than anything, as they bring back all thoughts of home – so please keep up these letters, Pips.’

[Next letter: 3 January]