parapet.

Rations, ammunition and R.E. material in this sector were brought to the
"Talus des Zouaves" on mule-drawn trucks along a narrow-gauge Railway
from Mont St. Eloi. Here, at a big Corps R.E. Dump, the trucks were
loaded every evening, the mule teams hooked in, and the party set off,
much harassed at times by bullets and shells, and seldom reaching home
without losing one, and often two animals. The Dump in the "Talus" also
got shelled; but the steep banks made the danger light and not much
damage was done in this way, though the Boche kept up a prolonged
bombardment at it with 5.9's on the evening of the 14th. Except for
this, the rest of the tour passed quietly, and on the following night
the 4th Lincolnshires relieved us, and we went back to rest in Camblain
L'Abbé huts, where we stayed for six days.

Our second tour started on the 21st, and from this day onwards until we
finally left the sector, we had a bad time. Our first trouble was the
weather. Alternate frosts and thaws, rain and snow, soon filled our
trenches with mud and slush, into which parapets and parados either
crumbled gradually or collapsed wholesale. No sooner could we repair one
length, than another would give way, and through it all many posts had
to live with water over their ankles and no proper drying accommodation.
There had to be three companies in the line, so 24-hour reliefs were
impossible, and to increase our troubles our stay in a warm climate had
made us less capable of standing the exposure to cold and wet, and there
were many cases of trench fever, trench foot, and some pneumonia, while
the health of all was considerably impaired. One of the most pitiful
sights of the war was to see 20 of our men crawling on hands and knees
to the Aid Post--their feet so bad that they could not walk.