October 18, 1940

Spent the whole day on a regimental scheme and read a sports magazine through. Arrived back at camp at six and after a quick supper dropped the Major to a dinner engagement and then returned to my billet. We just got nicely settled when a loud explosion shook the house and rattled the windows violently. Of course, I had to go out and investigate and found a huge crater in the main road about four hundred yards from the billet. Fortunately, only three people were injured and only one seriously, but boy, what a mess. The road was completely blocked from side to side. Earth and cement were piled eight feet all around the rim of a thirty-foot crater. The hole itself was fifteen feet deep and water from a burst main gushed freely. The Gerries don’t seem to care where they unload, just so long as they get rid of their cargo. They didn’t drop flares and the night is cloudy, so there was no possible chance of hitting any objective.

I played five games of snooker with my host, winning them, and as it is now eleven-thirty, will simply have to close and go to bed. It really is some job rolling out of a nice soft bed at six-thirty in the morning and if I don’t, I miss breakfast, so there you are. I am still enjoying myself and intend continuing to do so, come what may. However, I become dangerously close to being homesick now and then, which is very bad for a good soldier.