TCD MS 10853 folio 73 recto
[1915]
Wed. Mar 10th. Up at 3 a.m. Paraded at 4 in the dark and received picks and shovels. We marched off past the chateau and started work clearing away the deep slime for the Royal Engineers to make a decent road to the Cheshire Dug outs and trenches. It was very tedious and unpleasant job and some of us came upon some grim relics of previous fighting. We were sheltered from rifle fire, only one man was hit all day, and he was in the Engineers. We were unable to light fires, however, so had to live on water, bully beef and biscuits. Ben and I got tired of slime shifting, and taking our opportunity joined a party carrying down young fir trunks from the woods to line the pathway.
We met a good many Cheshires near their dug outs, and one from our village Fred Howard, and we had a chat with him. Occasionally when a Taube came over and the