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[Page 60]
next day the 25th being Xmas Day it rained to celebrate the occasion the troops being issued with small sausages bought from the canteen also a small piece of plum pudding which was heavy enough to sink a ship & a real good rum issue. We had to occupy this cramped up position for four days the duties consisting of ration carrying from the village of Flers to the front line a distance of about a mile & a half. These ration fatigues were a most exceptionally unpleasant jobs for the whole distance was paved with mud averaging knee deep & this with the weight of the rations which had to be carried made things very strenuous. it was impossible to maintain a permanent track to the front line for Fritz made the whole way a dumping ground for shells which made progress more difficult for in many case the men would fall into shell holes having to be pulled out by their mates. it often happened that a ration party would get lost for there were no land marks to guide anyone & if a party did get lost it would mean walking about until dawn or sit down & wait for the nights were as dark as pitch. During the 27th orders were issued to our company to prepare themselves for the front line & we started to move off about dusk going to exactly the same position as previously occupied by us relieving "D" Company of our battalion. That night was extremely cold for a very heavy frost set in about midnight making things unpleasant for being on post duties we were not able to move about to keep warm. Early next morning long before daylight the deadly silence was broken by the yells of a hun which I afterwards learned was captured by a 2nd battalion patrol who were working on our right. It appeared that the Hun had been engaged on a fatigue party & owing to the dark lost his way & was sitting in an old disused trench when he was discovered by the 2nd Battalion patrol. At dawn I found I was unable to accommodate the three
[The image contains a hand drawn sketch map titled "Rough Sketch Geudacourt Section]