I missed sending you a letter yesterday. I had to go off on my horse
a distance of some six miles or so to find new billets for the
Battalion. This work is usually done by the Senior Major and the
Interpreter, but as the Interpreter is on leave and the Major is
killed, I did it.
We are being relieved in our Posts to-night by an English Regular
Regiment and are going back six or seven miles by route march. We
expect to set out from here at about 10 p.m. and should reach our new
Billets in about two hours or so by night march.
The method of allotting billets to a Battalion is as follows. The
Brigade gives each Battalion under it a certain area on the map, and
the Battalion Billeting Officers go to that area in advance as I did
yesterday, and select the most suitable farms or houses or other
buildings, and chalk the name of the Regiment on the doors, and tell
the inhabitants that troops will occupy their premises on a certain
day. When the Battalion leaves these billets the owners are given a
certificate with the number of Officers and men accommodated, signed
by the Commanding Officer; this is counter-signed by the Mayor of the
district, and later on the owner receives payment at a fixed rate for
Officer or man.