A disappointing Christmas dinner

"Well this is Christmas day but there is very little to remind us of the fact and it is just like ordinary times. Our Christmas fare was very poor, bully beef & biscuits figuring conspicuously on the menu. Our Christmas dinner was a pudding nothing else at all, not even a drink of tea to wash it down..."

"I am looking forward to meeting Ernie there [brother]"

"I wish that the war would end quickly as it must be causing misery and starvation to millions of people all over the world. But ...there is nothing to justify the idea of an early peace. The Germans seem determined to carry the thing through to a finish."