Continuing the diary of John Sangway, dispatch rider with XVII Corps.

25/9/18

Left B[retencourt] for the wilderness. Expected rough conditions & got ‘em. Not so bad though – thanks to good weather & some work. Plenty of old iron & timber to be found. Wonderfully bracing place. High & chalky – suggestive of South Downs. From dugout view for many miles quite open – on skyline a shell-scraped wood with Mont St Eloi tower showing through & beyond it. Sharing dugout with Pat – rather cosy. Tons of work and all quarters very small & cramped.

29/9/18

Came on to L[ouverval?]. Fixed up in ruins. Pretty damnable. Bell tent for mine not too bad but signal office rotten – 2 Armstrong huts for the lot. Started in the open air a la picture-books!

30/9/18

Crossed Canal du Nord on run to POW Cage. Collected some Dahrlenskaselnschafle¹ or something like that for Souvenirs.

Peace signed with Bulgaria – unconditional surrender – some week!

¹ John probably meant Darlehnkassenschein, banknotes that were issued during and after the war to supplement the regular coins and notes in circulation.