‘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]