Very lurid speeches by the C.O. and the G.O.C.

9th December 1915 Thursday

Up again early after a very uncomfortable night. Fog very heavy on the lake and flat ground, and the hill we were on very thorny and rocky. Very lurid speeches by the C.O. and the G.O.C. both indicating that we were walking into a hell on earth and telling us to stick it at all cost – or as the C.O. put it ?Do your damndest. Men very bucked with the prospect of a tight corner. Put under command of General Vandeleur 29th Brigade (10th Division) about which Division the C.O. had collected some dreadful reports – of whole Regiments running away and officers doing nothing to stop the rot. Went up the mountain at once to the top of the Kama Bail and high ridge 3000 feet high, with view over the Bulgarian Frontier where we took up our position at 2pm. ?D Coy in reserve. Delightful up there above the clouds of the valleys. Sunshine bright and warm all days and quite reasonably warm at night also. The view of the valleys on both sides hidden by mist. We have passed through a good deal of Servia now from Doiran and I confess I don’t think it much worth fighting for. Villages in ruins.
Took over part of the Royal Irish Rifle line – a wonderfully strong natural position. Saw Phipps again and understand stories of 10th Div very inaccurate and exaggerated. Turn in after seeing my sentries early with neither blanket, ground-sheet or covering.