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[Page 515]

they complained of their condition & had to go. The post was thus reduced to seven.

During the night the men in this trench were wondering how the post in sight on the right has fared for they appeared to have suffered no neglect from the Hun batteries but as morning wore on they were seen to be alright which was comforting but what improved matters much more was the fact that they had received some rations. This knowledge induced one of the seven men to volunteer to "go out" and apply to the B Coy Capt for rations for the party & at twelve oclock returned with some bread & jam & what was best of all a good nip of rum which was so welcome that the conditions did not seem so bad afterwards.

While enjoying this "feed" the men wondered why such a generous supply had been issued but this was explained by the man saying. I was not fool enough to tell the Captain that the "post" had been reduced from 15 to 7!. So they had 3 slices of bread & plenty of jam, and another slice was kept for later on.

According to ordinary recognized custom this post should have been relieved at 11 oclock on Monday night & every man had been looking forward to the relief with expectant pleasure but as each hour went by hope dwindled.

Hope for relief that day vanished completely when information was received by the man bringing in the rations that it would be impossible for relief to be sent & they would have to hold on for another 24 hours

It was stated that the officers of the fourth battalion which had hitherto relieved the 56th had reported to the officer holding the line that as the 4th Battn had marched 25 miles on the Monday the men were not in a fit state to take over a front line, especially one that might be counter attacked at any moment.

The best they could do was to move

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