Tuesday 19th December 1939

Luck! The time of guard mounting is now altered to 2:30p.m., so we gain two hours, having only 22 instead of 24 hours guard! I’ve made fearfully neat guard reports out – in ink. I really think they are the best that have been made here, so far! Very neat and precise! Nearly time for guard changing, so I’ll clean my buttons – and get the guard room tidied too. We shambled through the guard changing ceremony somehow (Ye gods! How ripping when I know the job thoroughly!) and were dismissed by 3 o’clock.

Cold, miserable winter’s evening is creeping on now. I have got a bloody awful cold and the churchyard cough has come back, with it. I’m not the only one in the battery however who does not feel A1. Many men have sore throats to add to their troubles. Due to the long waits, motionless, on the three daily parades. Gloves must not be worn and greatcoat collars must be turned down. And the ground is often soaking wet; or a bitter wind is sweeping across the field. And there we stand, frequently for half an hour or more…

There are brighter spots in this gloom though! Eileen, and Christmas and leave and the midlanders I live among and the possibility of serving in a better climate!