25th October 1914
The Dorsets spent another day in billets. The weather was warm for October as they continued to help the Royal Engineers dig trenches and repair roads. At 4pm they were stood to arms along the Rue de Béthune, but by 6pm the supposed danger had passed and they returned to billets.
The British and Germans now faced each other from hazily dug trenches, separated by a handful of yards. The Germans were trying to advance by digging saps, essentially long passageways towards the enemy, and then digging forward trenches off of those saps. Snipers and artillery kept the men’s head down in their trenches. Sound familiar? The war was entering a new phase of warfare all along the front to the south. To the north, the situation was still very mobile.
Finally, an apology for not including Frank’s postcard in yesterday’s post. I saved an older version over the final draft by mistake. So please go back and re-read that one if you haven’t done already.