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sank through the floor, and I baled some out with my mug and mess-tin. By now I was thoroughly soaked. By about 9 o'clock most trenches were flooded, but I made mine inhabitable (on a boggy floor) by putting inside a mortar-bomb box to sit on. That's how I spent the night, with my wet shirt off, and my blanket and gas-cape draped round me like a toga, sitting in the mud on a mortar-bomb box!

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The difficulty about stopping the satin from fraying is that it would be almost impossible to hem something so small: but I don't mind it a bit bigger if necessary, though not the size of a Silver Jubilee flag! I am returning Uncle Bob's letter.

Sunday 23. July. This morning there was a Church parade at 9.30. and at about 10.45. we fell in for an inspection by the Brigadier. He didn't say much except that he hoped everyone was going on all right and he kept us waiting till 12.45. to say it. At 2.0. p.m. the officer of the Coy came in a jeep to reconnoitre the areas we are in now - forward again, but rather further right (south of where we were before) We contacted the unit that we were relieving, and found out all the information we could about the position and the foe in these parts. We got back to the rest area at about 5.0.p.m.; and then had to give out orders for tomorrow's move up, so I got free at last at about 7.0.p.m. I then packed my pack and valise (they

are left behind in the admin. area)and sorted out what I should want for a week or so in the line. During the night and early morning a few enemy planes tried to bomb (unsuccessfully) a bridge a few hundred yards from us.

Mon. 24. July. Got up at 7.15. this morning and got ready to move at 8.35. We marched up here along roads that had turned again from mud to dust, and this blew straight into your face whenever traffic passed On the way we passed thousands of our propaganda leaflets - apparent1y one of our planes had dropped them in the wrong spot. I am enclosing two that I picked up. They are both about the revolt of the Generals in Germany, and say that the Generals know the war is lost for Germany, so what are the rank and file going to do about it? We arrived here about 10. o'clock and got settled in by about lunch time. In the afternoon I cleaned my weapons, and supervised the improvement and camouflaging of slit trenches and fire positions, and generally settling in. I had to stay awake the first half of the night (after which my platoon sergeant took over from me) and visited the sections etc., which is quite a spooky job in the dark! During the night the Germans bombed (with aircraft) what must have been concerntrations of troops or vehicles about 6 miles away. At any rate breakfasts arrived brought up in a jeep; by now a new bridge head had been laid.
After breakfast I went to Brigade and then wandered round these buildings. The farm is scarcely touched (with jolly good loose-box stabling); but it has been rifled, and every hen, pig, horse, and cow has vanished.

There are one or two bits of furniture, and what has been quite a pleasant garden. My Intelligence Room is inside, but I haven't yet discovered where I shall sleep - not where any flea-ridden Germans have been at any rate.

We had haversack lunches of bread and jam, and I ate some chocolate. In the afternoon, which was scorching hot, I went to a knoll just behind B.H.Q. where one had a bird's eye view along the whole of the ground in front over a distance from right to left of about 20 miles, and one could also look to the rear 4 or 5 miles and see what had been the German positions opposite us, only from their point of view. I went onto the roof of a farmhouse on the hill, and beaked around with map and binoculars. I then returned to B.H.Q. and have mucked around in the Intelligence Room from then till now. I am now waiting for the evening meal, and so, apparently, are the mosquitoes. The meal has just come, and the mail is going back, so I must close now.

Letter 12. 12 Parachute Regt.

B.L.A.

25. July 44.

7.30.p.m.

I am getting your letters pretty regularly now; in the last 3 days I have received a letter from Daddy, a letter from Phoebe, and a parcel from Mamma.
Thanks very much for both the parcels - the one with the shirts, socks, notepaper,

etc., in it, and the one just received 10 minutes ago with the pillow, note-paper and sweets, etc.
Phe seems to be doing all right for strawberries; actually in our rations we occasionally get some tinned fruit, which comes as a welcome change; though all the puddings and sweets are good - even the rice. I could eat twice as much as we are given every meal!

I'm glad my tapestries have got home. Are they in good condition or have they been knocked about and damped en route; if so I'll try to get another copy of the extensible one, because it cost only 2/6d. and is a complete reproduction of the whole tapestry and they might not be obtainable soon.

The washing you mention as not having arrived is in the kit bag, unless you mean the washing I sent while on the course at Westgate; in which case I don't suppose I shall see that again. In case you think it's worth while trying to recover it the address would be "The P.M.C., 61, Div. Battle School, Westcliffe Hotel, Sea Road, Westgate-on-sea, Kent". The P.M.C. is the officer in charge of the Mess, and they might possibly have it put aside.

I shall not want any more shirts now, with the 2 you sent I have 4, which is ample (so long as the war ends this year!)

Hope Bun managed the flag all right in spite of the difficulties of getting cloth. I'd rather wait a bit and have a

good one than have it hurried, because I think it is good fun from the historical point of view and it will also be useful in a practical way. If you want a signpost, what could be better than your own arms?
Cannot bits of flannel be bought the same as are used for putting the red, yellow, etc. backing to officers' pips?

The meals here are almost entirely tinned. In fact bread is the only item that doesn't come out of a tin. We have been having bread for about the last fortnight, and it is a welcome change from biscuits. Biscuits are so dry and are not at all filling - and something bulky is all you need here. Every day we get an issue of a bar of chocolate and half a dozen sweets.

You get horribly filthy out here - my hair feels full of dust and mosquitoes!
The mosquitoes infest the whole of Normandy apparently. They bite you incessantly unless you cover your face, hands and wrist, with paraffin or flit.
The trench I am in at the moment is pretty free. But it would be grand to get back to a good hot mixed grill and omelet, followed by a bath and a spring bed.

It's now between 8 and 9 p.m. and so I'll close down to get to bed early.

12th Parachute Regt.

B.L.A.

Letter 13. 27 July 44.

That air pillow has come in jolly useful; I can get some real sleep now instead of snatches of sleep with my head on my tin hat. There is little general news, so I'll get straight on with the diary.

Wed. 26 July. Today we were going into battalion reserve and another company was relieving us for 48 hours or so; so we spent the first part of the morning cleaning up slit trenches, burying tins etc. and at 11.10 we moved out and the other company moved in. We came back up the road about 300x and into the reserve slits I am occupying now. Back here you may get mortared (we haven't been mortared yet) but you are away from snipers and machine-guns, and can take off your boots and wash and air your feet. We are in exactly the same spot as we were in when in battalion reserve about a fortnight ago, before moving back to rest; but not in the same slit trenches - in fact the old ones have been pulled down and these new ones built. These are practically mosquito-free, and are well built, with recesses for your kit and a tunnel for your legs instead of making them larger and therefore weaker. We had settled in by lunch-time, and from1.30. till 4.30 I slept. During the evening I read the papers, which were today's, brought over by air. At 2 o'clock in the night about 4 planes raided us; they didn't use flares, and most of the bombs (anti-personnel) fell in the orchard across the road away

from us. The raid lasted about 20 minutes, and although some of the anti-personnel bombs (which weigh about 2 lbs.) fell straight on some slit-trenches, those inside didn't even know they had landed - which shows that slit trenches with roofs are safe enough.

Thurs. 27 July.

After breakfast I washed, and then read the 'Histoire de France' I picked up in a house about a week ago. It's only a child's history, but it is quite interesting. This afternoon I slept a bit and this evening I am writing to you and Uncle and Auntie; so I have scarcely stirred out of my trench so far today!
Sleeping, reading, and eating, are the only things you want to do in reserve; you can make up for the sleep you miss in the forward positions when you have to stay awake half the night. At the moment I am in my trench on my blanket eating chocolate 'with vitamins' as the wrapper says.

It's now 8.10 p.m. so I shall just read a bit more and then turn in early.

Have just received Mamma's letter dated 24th - it took 3 days, so that is not bad. How long do mine take? Have received both parcels and all your letters are coming through all right now.
By the way, the bag the Bayeux tapestry cards were wrapped in was one of the 'vomiting bags' we were provided with when we came over, so that people shouldn't be sick all over the crowded ship!

it's quite exciting when the mail comes up in the evening. Letters and daily papers stop you from feeling as though you were cast adrift on the moon.
Shall start to get to bed now; it's 9.15.

12th Parachute Regt.

B.L.A.

27. July 44.

Dear Auntie & Uncle,
I have been in Normandy just over 4 weeks now, and have a few moments to say what it is like.

The countryside is very like the English countryside; even the trees look the same - oaks and ashes - though here and there you get French trees like small tufts on the end of tremendously long trunks. The weather has been average, some very hot days, and some days when our slit-trenches have been flooded and we have had to sit on boxes inside instead of on the floor.

The slit trenches where we live are dug narrow, and just long enough for you to lie down. They are roofed with timber from ruined buildings, and earth and sandbags. This is to keep out the rain and any odd splinters. Actually with a blanket inside they are very comfortable. I am writing this in one now.

Some time ago I was at Bayeux, and while I was there I visited the Cathedral and bought some reproductions of the Bayeux Tapestry. The Cathedral is chiefly Norman in style, founded I believe, by Odo of Bayeux. The Bayeux Tapestry used to be housed in a building opposite it, but the Germans took it to Paris in 1940 as Invasion Propaganda, and it has not been seen since. The reproductions I got are some of them in black and white and some in colour. One of them extends over a good many feet in the same sequence as the original.

The buildings round here are of grey stone and seem pretty substantial but the inside walls are only of plaster an inch or two thick; perhaps it has this advantage, that it makes alterations for different tenants far easier and less costly.

We are getting newspapers regularly now, sometimes they arrive here on the day of publication, flown by plane.
Letters take about 4 days to come - I don't know how long they take to go back to England.

planes could be heard distinctly, and the bombs, and the whole of the southern sky was lighted by about 20 parachute flares hanging in the air at once.

The most interesting thing at night is watching flares and red, white and green Very lights go up at various places along the front during the night. At about 2.15. I went to bed - not pestered (for once) by mosquitoes, because we had flitted the trench walls thoroughly.

Tues. 25 July. Yesterday, Monday, by the way, was the day we left England 4 weeks ago, and today we landed in France. How fast the month has gone.

I woke up today at about 8 o'clock for breakfast (I had gone to bed again after stand-to at dawn), and after breakfast went to sleep again at 9.30. until 1.30.p.m. This afternoon I washed, and undid your parcel, and wrote this, and cleaned my Sten and revolver. It's perfectly peaceful here so far (touch wood) in fact more so than at the rest area for me, because there you have to run around getting clothes, ammunition, weapons etc. for re-equipping the platoon whereas here it is eat, sleep, and wait during which period you can write letters and read. Not a shot has been fired at us today or yesterday either from firearm or mortar, and the sun has been shining, so it is quite peaceful. The chief discomforts are the flies and wasps - myriads of blue-bottles; and when you have jam to eat it looks like marmalade, because the wasps crawling over it turn it from red to yellow! I'm now sitting at the mouth of my slit trench, the sun has gone down, and some of the flies have

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