TCD MS 10821 folio 15 recto
[June 19th 1916] we were proceeding. We relieved a Company of the Rifle Brigade & found that the trenches were not too bad & that I had a very comfortable dug out for my Headquarters. Most of the night I spent wandering round to try & get my bearings & see that everything was alright. There are two rooms in the dug out, one where we have our meals & another where there is a bed, so that we are very well off.
June 20th. It was a cold night & a ground mist early in the morning. We had to stand to arms from 2.45 am to 4.45 am after which we had some breakfast & then retired to sleep for a few hours. During the hours of daylight, I am beginning to find my way about in this maze of trenches, but even now I get lost in the numerous support trenches. We had one man killed by a sniper early in the morning, otherwise the morning was quite peaceful. From two till half past we were shelled with 4.2’s & whiz bangs, but they did no damage & during tea <we had> with vane bombs, crackers & whiz bangs <over us>. The communication trenches are looking very pretty with all the poppies & cornflowers hanging over the edges. On my dug out table I have a bowl of paeonies & cornflowers & life in the trenches is altogether different now to what it was when I was out here before. Rats are everywhere, big, middle sized & small. Some are