Working all night until 5.30am. February 6th. Unloading military trucks. 2ft. gauge. Nothing to eat except two biscuits since dinner on 5th February. Very cold. Had a job to keep warm.

Breakfast at 7.00 a.m. Some of our mates shifted to Bray? [Bray-sur-Somme] others left behind walked round the battlefields of Gulleynont, Longeval, and Thiepal? Several graveyards about.

The following additional information is from Martin Farebrother:

Guillemont, Longeval, Thiepval (most sappers did not have access to maps).

Breakfast at 8.0 a.m. Squad drill until 11.00 a.m. Then searched battlefield we are camped on for souvenirs, but only found German bullets. Had a service in our own tent at night among ourselves.

Now in sound of artillery guns. Several shells passing over us during night. We are situated in a horseshoe curve thus:- [A diagram shows Plateau surrounded by deep horseshoe curve with the enemy on the far side.]

The following additional information is from Martin Farebrother:

At this time, and until the German retreat to the ‘Hindenburg Line’ in March 1917, Plateau and Frise were quite near the front line where the Battle of the Somme ended in November 1916. Froissy was slightly further from the front line.

Fell in 8.00am. Squad drill. Had a Turkish bath. Left Audr[u]icq at 9.00 pm in box trucks for Plateau. Arrived 6.00 am February 3rd. Enjoyed the journey although tired.

Unloading timber all day. Good feed at night of steak etc. Heavy frost all night. Boots frozen hard. Hats frozen. Blankets dripping wet with dew from top of tents.

Unloading timber all day from railway wagons. Very cold all day. Had pork and potatoes and haricot beans for one shilling* at B.E.F.** canteen. Sharp frost at night.

*£4.50/$6.10 in 2022 currency

**British Expeditionary Force

Fell in at 8.00 a,m. Same as previous day. Had a good feed at night at cafe of steak, potatoes, bread and cafe’* for 1s 5½d.**

*Leonard may not have had much to do with coffee before this time; although it was generally available – and could easily be made at home – it had a reputation for being both expensive and ‘foreign’. Also, an article here suggests that there had been supply chain problems with it earlier in the war, but that the absence or presence of coffee in any food establishment was probably a good indicator of the progress of the war.

**The equivalent of about £6.50 ($8.80) in the present day, which is a modest enough price for what is essentially steak and chips and a cup of coffee.

Fell in at 8.00 a.m. Had drill of various kinds until 12.30 p.m. Dinner 1.00 p.m. More drill until 3.00 p.m. Dismissed for day then had to stop in camp at night for water fatigue*.

*I have not been able to identify exactly what ‘water fatigue’ involved and I suspect that it was different at every base anyway; presumably it involved transporting water from wherever it was sourced to wherever it was needed, i.e. from a pump or standpipe to the kitchen, latrines or laundry. Alternatively it may have been pumping water for the use of the locomotives in the shunting yard. Leonard knew what he meant, anyway, and didn’t feel the need to include any further illustrative detail. And ‘stopping in camp’ doesn’t sound too bad, really; it’s hard to imagine that Audruicq had very much of a night-life to offer, even if Leonard had been the type to indulge in it!

Laying rails until 12.30pm. Went and had a good feed in afternoon. No service during day. Had a few hymns at night in tent