Saturday 23rd March 1940

Kit inspection this morning. Hard job, getting my tent in a fairly shipshape condition; the men were not only slovenly by nature – most of them – but they also just didn’t know how. For instance I had to disintegrate two piles of blankets and paliasses and re-stack them. Hell of a time!

Then one of the blokes “went sick” and it transpired that he had contracted a nauseating disease of the parasitic type. It was expected that he’d remain in hospital but to my horror he was sent back to the tent. He is to be treated in camp and so will remain with us…

At 9a.m. we “stood to our kits” I think the buggers imagined the display to be good. It might have been, compared to their previous efforts. “All right now, huh?” said one. I spoke: “Never before have I seen such a shit-house of a tent. However, let’s hope that when we stand to our kits as a punishment this afternoon, we’ll do better” (That shook ‘em!).

We scraped past the inspection without neither trouble or honours.