Item 04: Herbert Henry Harris diary, 1 August 1917-31 May 1918 - Page 98
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[Page 98]
Sunday 23/12/17
2 years ago today I left Ausy. seems like 200 Beautiful day Sun hot but keen Breeze blowing & big frost again last night Ground all ice & hard as iron.
deferred Pay £39-9-0 – 90/1 no mail or parcels yet Xmas seems to be a failure here Posted Maude's & Viv's letters to day.
Monday 24/12/17
Cold & foggy hardly able to walk about ground so slippy just like glass.
Prospects for tomorrow rotten Xmas mail sunk both ways.
deferred Pay £39-10-6 – 94/6 came a lovely cropper this morning have to make up Wifes allotment of 4/- per day from Aug 30th last Puts me overdrawn £12-5-11 more another instance of Brains in our fool Army. Seems that when you get 10/- per day you have to pay your wifes allotment & this should have been done when I got the 2 stripes on Aug 30th The consequence is it will take me till the end of April to pay it off & in the meantime I get 5 francs a Pay & after that 2/- a day or 40 francs a Pay my trip to England is about 12 months put off curse the damned Army & everything that sent me into it.
Have got 20 francs to do me till the end of Apl. Have since made it out & I find that if I draw nothing till the end of March I shall be in debt then 3/- nice to look forward to
Tuesday 25/12/17
Xmas day fine & nearly all snow gone, much warmer, a little rain last night, ground getting very muddy owing to the Thaw setting in. The only Estaminet in the Village closed to all British Troops nice Xmas Present for us all