Monday 22nd February 1915: Sapper Alf Warton, at Cuinchy east of Béthune, tells us: “We are very busy, some part of our Company on day work and some on night. Of course one job is as good as another. The party I have been with has been on night work for fifteen nights at a stretch, but of course we get plenty of rest in the day time. Our work consists chiefly of barbed wire entanglements which are made in the daytime and put in front of the trenches at night and I can assure you they are a fine obstacle for the Germans. We can soon get a hundred yards of wire in front of our trenches when we get it there. Of course infantry take it for us and we do the fixing. You can be sure we are in the midst of it, considering we have only been out here two months and have had six killed and about twelve wounded. Last Saturday was our worst day, for while taking part in an attack we had quite a number of casualties. There are rumours about that we are shortly going to have a rest and I think the Company has thoroughly earned it , considering we do the same work as the Regulars(1)”.
“The Company is now split up in sections and billeted indifferent empty houses, only a thousand yards from the firing line, and our billet is rather lucky for it has not been hit by a shell yet. It is much more convenient being in an empty house, for with a good cook like Alfy Mayhew we very often get roast beef and of course that is a change from the stew, or shackles as we call it. We are quite comfortable in my room. I can assure you when we get in the blankets we are as happy as sandboys and take no notice of the roar of the guns”.
(1) 1st East Anglian Field Company, Royal Engineers was a Territorial Army unit.
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