On Wednesday night we moved away from our nice Château at 10.30 p.m.,
and at 1.30 a.m. reached the village where we were to stay the night.
The moon was good, and the march was a good one of about seven miles
or so. At 2.15 that morning I lay down on the top of a bed with just
my boots and jacket off, and slept till 6 a.m. Then I got up and
shaved, and drank a cup of cocoa that my servant made, and was in the
saddle again by 7 a.m., and rode about five miles to the headquarters
of a French General in a Château. Officers Commanding Battalions
were ordered to go there at 8 a.m., and we were provided with French
guides who could speak English, and went over the trenches that our
Battalions were to take over on Saturday night. This we did, and
were much pleased with the construction of them and the general
conditions of everything; so last night we marched off from our
Billets in the village to the trenches, and we are here now. Our
Battalion is not actually in the front line just now, but is in
'dug-outs' just behind the first line. It is in a wood, and is so
picturesque in places that one would never connect it with war, were
it not for occasional shells that come over our heads.