We are settling down to the hard grind of active service, and if you
saw us now you would think we well deserved our regimental nickname,
“The Dirty Shirts.” When you have wielded the pick and shovel for a day
or two in a blazing sun you don’t look as though you were going to a
tea party or to chapel: _Private T. Mulligan_.
Cock-a-Doodle-Doo!
It is great fun watching the efforts of the troops to make the French
people understand what they want. One of our fellows thought he would
try for some eggs at a farmhouse. Naturally, they couldn’t understand
him, so he opened his mouth, rubbed his stomach, flapped his arms, and
cried, “Cock-a-doodle-doo!” The eggs came promptly: _Bombdr. H. Cressy,
Royal Field Artillery_.