Under the cover of darkness

"Punctually at 9 we joined the Ambulance & to our great surprise, there were thousands of other men there. It was a very impressive sight to see all these men lined up there in the moonlight & in full view of the Turkish trenches (in daylight)."

"Strict orders were issued that nobody was to smoke or strike a light or in any way to create any disturbance - it was part of our little scheme to keep quiet. The Turks trenches were only about 750 yards off at this point."

"It was dreadfully slow walking down the sap & we were all dog tired when we reached the boats."

"You should have seen the pack I carried down it weighed fully a ton (?) by the time we reached the boat & many a poor old back was nearly broken. I had a big kit bag strapped on my shoulders, a haversack full of stuff over each shoulder, a water bottle full of water, 48 hours' food, blanket, waterproof, sleeping bag, overcoat & last but not least a piece of lovely cake mother had sent me. I had that tied to my belt in an iron ration bag. I could not let Johnny Turk get that.'"