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[Page 64]
the mud - curse the cards!! This place is rotten, but I hear that the place we go to is much worse. I've been debating in my mind whether to apply for 6 months leave or not. I am anxious to get that commission, but, it's a long time overdue and having it will entail duties and responsibilities which may fetter me for longer than I want. Also it might look bad if immediately after getting it I applied for leave. On the other hand, if I get it and stay over here collecting material before the bad weather sets in, I could then apply and perhaps get it. If I succeeded I think I could go home via N.Y. I then would continue out to Aust. and there get into touch with some one worth while; return by the same route and get some more work done next spring and summer. I agree with Fullwood that the work is in its infancy and that as the Hun is pushed back we will follow up, recording the battle-fields. That being the case, I feel sure that a statement of my ideas to some responsible authority in Aus. would put me on a good footing. There is any amount of activity about here particularly as regards vehicles, and the roads are as a result distressingly muddy. The heavy traffic makes an emulsion of mud that is a thing on its own, and as the soil is impartially colored red, yellow or black one's boots are prettily camouflaged with disruptive color designs. There are swarms of sticky flies too, tho' not thank Heaven the millions of able-bodied mosquitoes that were out in the forward area.
BLANGY TROUVILLE [Tronville]
Aug. 5, 1919 [1918]
Hardly had I begun work in my little room, than orders came that we were to pack up and leave for a new place. Tho' friendly with the staff, they are all out for themselves and as I have no weight, I cannot demand anything and, at a great disadvantage must forage for instructions as to time of leaving, transport to and accommodation at our destination. I'm lucky if I get any of these, for they leave me altogether out of their calculations. By the skin of my teeth I scrambled on an already loaded lorry and we bumped away to this place, where I found a "doss" on the floor of a broken down stable. I found that the staff officers had moved