‘We were not relieved this morning, as I half expected to be,’ he wrote to Pips, ‘so we shall have another 12 days probably – which I should not object to in the least if we have as happy a time as we have had for the last 12 days.’ He was finding that the time slipped by faster than he expected, and he was not getting as much done in his free time as he had expected. He had, of course, spent his time in reading books and writing some stories and letters, but other duties – like inspections, censoring, or entertaining the RE officers – tended to get in the way.

A brief letter to his mother made much the same point, while adding a hint of his fatalism: ‘we cannot have everything go well always – this war has taught me to appreciate the pleasant moments when they are here, and not always [to be] looking forward to them.’ And he closed his letter with some advice [which was one part Marcus Aurelius, and one part the advice that his mother had given to him when he left for France]:

‘Goodbye for the present, dear – always be brave and cheerful and throw all your interest into your work. I know it will ease your mind when you are miserable dear, and I like to think you are doing this.’

[Next letter: 7 November]

Here’s a typical day, as told to Pips:

6:30: Arrive back from night duty at the mine. Sit down on bed and servant brings a cup of tea.

6:30-8:00: Generally doze off to sleep after being up most of the night.

8:30: Breakfast – usually porridge, eggs & bacon, bread, butter & jam, and tea.

9:00: Wash and brush up; change boots and socks  usually wet from wading about in the muddy trenches; then read till about 10:30.

10:30: Inspect rifles of working party returned at 9 o’clock, usually go round and ask what sort of breakfast the men have, and generally receive complaints. But they always have complaints, and unless anything very special, take no notice as they are very well treated as regards rations: they have a slice of bread, rasher of bacon and tea for breakfast with jam sometimes; good stew made from fresh meat for dinner and bread and cheese etc for sort of tea/supper.

Letter to Pips, 3 November 1916. By permission of the Surrey History Centre (Ref: 2332/1/1/3/103)

11:00-1:00: Either start writing you letters, or read. Or, if I have had a busy night without much sleep, I have a nap.

1:00 o’clock: Lunch: today we had soup – some tinned lobster – tinned fruit and coffee (I expect this luxury makes you stagger – but it does not cost much and as we buy our own lunch we get as nice a things as we can). We have been here about 10 days now and have spent 78 francs in rations – which, seeing that there are two of us (and three for part of the time), works out quite moderately. [78 Francs was worth about £2 15 shillings, at a time when the daily pay of an Infantry 2nd Lieutenant was about 7s 6d]

1:00-4:00: Reading, writing, censoring letters, and various little jobs attached to our work, with fairly frequent intervals of watching the Germans bombard our aeroplanes or watching bombardments in the distance…We have absolutely got the upper hand in the air – you see a dozen or two of our aeroplanes hovering about and hardly ever one of “Fritz’s”.

4:30: Tea – usually plain, except when a parcel has arrived.

5:30: One of us leaves to go up on duty – the other stays at home and (if I am off) go on writing (you would be surprised if you knew the time I spend on letter writing), and reading and anything else that may be required.

7:00: Check rations when they come up, and see if all correct.

8:30: Have dinner – sometimes fried steak, onions or potatoes etc.

9:30: Get settled in bed and read for a bit and then go to sleep.

So you see – our time is pretty much our own after duty.

[Next letter: 4 November]