n we get jam. The inevitable, haunting, horrific "plum and apple." This
is made by Ticklers', Limited, of London, England, and after the tins are
empty we use them to manufacture hand grenades. In those days our supply of
hand bombs was like our supply of shells, problematic to say the least.
After a time, back of the line, instruction schools were opened in bomb
making and bomb throwing. One or two out of a platoon would go back and
learn "how," and then instruct the rest of us to fill the tins with spent
pieces of shrapnel, old scraps of iron, anything which came handy, insert
the fuse, cotton and so forth, and thus form an effective weapon for close
fighting.

We called those bombers "Ticklers' Artillery Brigade," and they tickled
many a German with Ticklers' empty jam tins.

A stock of weak tea, some sugar, salt, some bully beef, biscuits crumbled
down, the whole well stirred and brought to a boil, then thickened by
several soup powders, is a recipe for a stew which, as the Irishman said,
is "filling and feeding." Of its appearance I say nothing.

Regardless of any, we are the best fed troops in the field. While in the
trenches the food may be rough and monotonous, but there is plenty of it,
and it is of the best quality of its kind. No man need ever be hungry in
the trenches. It is his own fault if he is.

We grouse at our rations, of course, and make jokes and laugh, but we never
run short of supplies.

Behind the lines, when we go back for a rest and are in billets, we are
supplied with well-cooked and comfortable meals. Three good squares a day.
We have here our field kitchens and our regular cooks, and Mulligan (stew)
is not the daily portion, but variations of roast beef, mutton and so
forth.

It is good food, and I have heard men exclaim that it was better than
anything they had had at home. After investigation I usually found that the
men who dilated thus on the gastronomic delights of billets were married
men!

The authorities are just as careful about sending up a soldier's letters,
his parcels and small gifts from home, as they are about the food and
clothing supplies. They recognize that Tommy Atkins naturally and rightly
wants to keep in touch with the home folks, and every effort is made to get
communications up on time. But war is war, and there are days and even
weeks when no letters reach the front line. Those are the days that try the
mettle of the men. We do not tell our thoughts to one ano