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[Page 57]
Friday 24th Sept. 1915
Am [indecipherable] freezing - & late for office – half-an-hour, of wh I was quietly reminded. Am greatly worried about bivouac as weather is too cold for open-air sleeping, besides my "internal prerogative" is demanding additional warmth & rest.
Paid £1 in 2 ten shilling currency notes. It was absolutely necessary for me to draw as I had to get my hair cut & razor done up.
We have now taken up our winter quarters in Otago Gully, a narrow-gutted hollow forming an admirable cul-de-sac for enfilade fire from the north. The camp, bivouac with its excellently built offices & adjacent sleeping quarters is a tribute to the skill & zeal of the men who composed the working party, but I am afraid too much attention has been paid to detail. The result is that a very elaborate target now presents itself to the enemy – the brow of the gully is crested with dugouts whilst the "eyebrows", viz., the western slops is adorned with the multitudinous square-built premises giving accommodation for the General Staff. The whole show is one huge yellow-sandbag patch & must afford an easy target for hostile aircraft. Aeroplane reconnaissance is such a feature of Turkish warfare, it is surprising to me that such a great flamboyancy would have been was not prohibited. Only yesterday, recognising the need urgent need of dealing or doing something with enemy aircraft, each Bde. Division has been detailed by the Army Corps Commander to allot (2) special machine guns on prominent points to watch for the Taubes. They have become very cheeky of late & fly quite low. We evidently have no anti-aircraft guns to catch them.
The present stagnation is depressing in its regular monotony. From all centres comes the never-changing report "situation quiet". Those in the front trenches do certainly have to keep on the "qui vive" for bombs & snipers, but otherwise it seems to be a question of who can last the longest. Both sides seem to be content to dig themselves in, & watch & wait for events. It seems to be a mutual arrangement. The Turks are busy improving their works & are stubbornly entrenching themselves.
This inactive life is bad for morale. A soldier to be a soldier needs to be incessantly on the move, fighting the common enemy, or if not fighting him, continually aware that he is not for a moment safe from him. In this struggle, the singing of bullets & the bursting & roaring of shrapnel & big guns should never be lost to the men – if the enemy wont display no desire to fight then they should be made to fight.