heightened by
myself since I arrived here three hours ago. Its back towards the
enemy is 7 feet high, dug into a bank, with a high parapet of earth
and a stone lined face. (It is never advisable to build with stone, a
shell landing among stones can do a great deal of damage. In this case
I could not do otherwise, sand bags were very scarce by this time, and
it was with great difficulty we got any from the R.E.'s for the
protection of our patients. A little after this date these stones of
mine were sent flying.) It is of course open to the heavens where the
stars are unusually bright to-night. It promises to be a warm night,
the wind being S.W., very unlike what we have had of late when the
winds were from the north and keen by night. Just as it was getting
dark--before 7--I watched an aeroplane, evidently in difficulties from
its low flight and with its engine knocking badly. It descended on a
wide dusty road behind our base, when I expected the Turks to open
fire on it, as they once did on a similar occasion at Helles, but they
have left it in peace.

General Percival, our Brigadier, paid us a visit here a couple of
hours ago, and I tried to get the date of our next stunt from him but
failed. I admired his caution--if he knew. He tells me a special
telegram came from Kitchener to-day announcing the capture of 23,000
Germans in France, and forty guns, and more coming in all the time.

One can do little here after dark--and so to bed. Between mother earth
and myself is a ground sheet, near my feet my pick and spade, handy if
I should feel cold and wish to do some digging during the night, as I
may do when the moon rises about ten; beside me a miserable candle
lamp and my revolver, and after getting into my heavy overcoat, with
my pack for a pillow, hard though it is with mess-tin, jug and other
such like material inside, and a blanket over my feet, I hope to get a
few hours' sleep.

_October 1st._--During the last few days I have been very busy at our
dressing station preparing for the big attack which we know is near
and to be on a big scale. We are told that next time we must push
through and seize the Turkish lines of communication. We did some
heavy work, and as I had been the Engineer of the alterations and
earth works I felt responsible and was more on the spot than I would
have been otherwise. I thoroughly enjoyed it all the same, and all the
while did my full share of navvy work. We had large numbers of sick