Fit as Fiddles and as Hard as Nails

we were out on fatigue to the Cheshire trenches. Ben and I carried a large piece of woodwork for trench flooring up to the Cheshire dug outs.
Here we had to wait for a couple of hours in the rain and finally getting a box of ammunition between the two of us we pushed off with 30 others towards 27 trench. The approach was awful and Ben was not well to make matters worse. When we got near the trench we saw ahead of us the flashes of the German guns and knew we were on level country. So when the Star Lights went up we flung ourselves into the mud.
We had to enter the trench at the end of it – no communication trench of any kind. It was a filthy trench and few of the Cheshires were awake. All the officers and N.C.O’s were asleep and it would have been an easy task for the Germans to have occupied the place.