At daybreak I served out the usual allowance of rum to each man. As every man was wet and numb with the cold, the issue of this allowance was very much appreciated. I would like to see the people that advocate doing away with the rum issue take a turn in the trenches during the cold and rainy season. I think that they would come away perfectly satisfied in their minds that the rum ration under these circumstances is essential for the welfare of the men. It is so easy for people at home who have every luxury and comfort to sit down and criticise this issue. People who have never had any hardships to endure like those the soldiers in the trenches have will tell you that tea or coffee will do equally as well, but from long experience we in the army know different. I am a temperate man myself but I found benefit from this small drop of rum. Now that I am not in the trenches I don't need it and do not take it. The same applies to the majority of our soldiers. The army does not encourage the men to drink, as the drunkard is given very drastic treatment. We have no use for him.
On the morning of the 12th of April as I looked over the recently captured battle ground, I noticed that the railway construction troops had completed building a narrow gauge railway, which ran from our forward base of supplies at La Targette as far as Thelus, a very short distance from where I stood. Little gasolene engines were busy hauling up ammunition, which they distributed to the various ammunition dumps that were located at considerable intervals alongside the track. At one time we had large ammunition dumps; but we have learned from experience that it is better to have a series of small dumps well separated, so that if a shell from the enemy explodes on the dump, as it sometimes happens, our loss is not so great. The shells are carefully laid on a wooden flooring in little groups. Between each group is a layer of sand bag partitions. From these points the shells are carried forward to the different batteries on the backs of mules.
The labour and pioneer battalions assisted by some of the infantry were filling in the shell holes and clearing the debris to make new roads for the mule trains and transports that were to bring up the supplies. Along the Lens-Arras road men were clearing away fallen trees that had been struck by the shells and lay across the road. Owing to the high elevation of the ground our men could work both night and day without being observed.