Mercer papers, 9 December 1917-19 June 1919 / Harold Mercer - Page 53
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[Page 53]
quite a good lot of tea & sugar from the cookhouse; & there is the Red Cross Coffee & milk too. During the last few days we have only had a few fatigues, and no one has been called upon to do more than one a day. I was out on a wiring fatigue near our old front line position last night. Tonight my job is merely bringing up rations from Clarks Dump.
Jan 10
Our platoon is told off for ration carrying to the front line for 8 days; and I got the job of going to my old post, 5011, which is the hardest job of the lot being the farthest out & jutting into Fritz's line, so to speak. Its bad, because the sort of feverish cold I still carry with me brings the rheum to my eyes, and makes it more difficult than ordinary to see my way. Still I volunteered for it, thinking the posts would go round so that we would have turns of the difficult & easy ones; & although this is not to be done, there is no use in complaining.
Bowen, who went with me, complained about my being slow, so I told him to go ahead if he liked; which he did. At 3011, a post on the way out, I heard that he was about 12 minutes ahead of me, so I apologised when I reached 5011 for being late, thinking he would have got there fully twenty minutes ahead of me – but he had not arrived. After waiting for ten minutes