Dear Father
WE call pretty well everything a dugout but owing I suppose to the water being so near the surface there is generally only about 18 inches actually dug and the rest is built up with sandbags or sods, to make a little place you can crawl into for protection from shell or bullet – there come a good many wandering bullets this way at particular times we know about, especially during dawn, and at these times we sit close. We have had very hot summer weather lately, and a good wind blowing Germanwards which we always welcome as it prevents them using their gas business, which we have so far seen nothing of. The afternoon’s basking (this is laid down as the thing to do) is generally interrupted by a casual shell coming over or past us, which generally means we get up to see where it burst and if it is uncomfortably near we whistle company underground only to be signalled ‘carry on’ if no more shelling occurs for a few minutes. In calling them casual shells I mean that they seem to fire them at any odd either time, through sheer boredom or to satisfy themselves that their guns are still working properly. Whereas the rifle fire is pretty well limited to the dark hours, as both sides avoid putting their heads over the parapet during the day. I’ve found two unexploded shells hereabouts – one we have buried and the other Lionel said he could find an owner for and that it was worth keeping. Lionel was here for the day before yesterday for a bit, and I have seen two him or three times in the last few days. Strictly, we are due back for 4 days rest tomorrow night but, I don’t know if we shall not be here a little longer. Very useful would be: a dozen night lights; a ‘Baby Primus’ stove to fold up quite small (obtainable at Lilleys or Turners); a quarter dozen B Kohinoor pencils, for use on this; a quarter dozen soft copying pencils.