Colombo House was a small pill-box with a large door facing the enemy. The atmosphere within baffles all description. So bad, indeed, was it that the Regimental Sergeant-Major, immediately after entering it, had hastily to withdraw for the purpose of being violently sick. Ajax, on the other hand, never reached quite such a condition. It was a large concrete erection, with walls and roof of reinforced concrete about eight feet thick, much scarred with direct hits, but quite sound. It was square, with a doorway at the side which was protected by a sand-bag wall. In the centre was a huge concrete pillar supporting the roof, and round this the occupants sat on forms. On this occasion the party consisted of the Commanding Officer, Adjutant, and the Intelligence Officer, the Regimental Sergeant-Major, a cook and a servant, six signallers, three gunner signallers, two wireless operators, and some runners. Here we sat from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. There were two bunks in the corner which we shared in turn, and we had two Primus stoves for cooking purposes. The Company Headquarters next door was also a strong pill-box, but owing to the door facing the enemy it had to be entered and quitted after dark with great caution, for fear the light should shine towards the Germans. In the early hours of the morning, after relief, it began to freeze. In a short while everything was as hard as iron, and remained so all the time we were in. Except for the acute cold, frost was perhaps not an unmixed evil; one could move about with comparative ease, and everything was hard and dry, instead of soft and sodden. Dry cold is always less insidious than damp cold, and that there was so little sickness caused by this tour was due to the frost. However, it seriously interfered with the wiring programme and the elaborate arrangements made for the improvement of the positions by the addition of small elephants, etc., which we arranged to be sent up. Salvage was abundant, thousands of pounds' worth of Lewis gun drums, machine guns, and other material being scattered in every direction, but it was frozen so hard that only a small quantity was eventually retrieved. Hot tea and stew were brought up nightly on mules to Battalion Headquarters. It was carried in petrol-tins placed in haversacks and packed round with hay. In spite of the four hours which the party took coming from the Quartermaster's stores, the system of packing stood the test, and gave the men in the line the great benefit of warm drinks and warm food. During the night everyone took the maximum amount of exercise possible to restore the circulation. Even the stuffy atmosphere of a pill-box did not keep one warm, and by day it was necessary to wear two sand-bags over each foot to prevent them being reduced to a frozen condition. Each morning, as so often happens during a sharp frost, there was a heavy white mist till the sun got well up. During this time movement about the sector was comparatively safe,