In the autumn of 1917, when training for the attack on Beersheba, in
Palestine, we were encamped in bivouacs in the desert.
The chief meal of the day was served in the cool of the evening and
more often than not consisted of bully beef stew.
One evening the Orderly Officer approached the dixie, looked into it,
and seeing it half full of the usual concoction, remarked, "H'm, stew
this evening."
At once there came a voice, that of a Cockney tailor, from the nearest
bivouac--"My dear Watson!"--_R. S. H. (late 16th County of London
Q.W.R.), Purley, Surrey._