Bosche very active last night from 5.00 p.m. till 4.00 a.m. this morning. Trench mortars, 4.2 Hows, Field Guns and M.G. very vicious. They caught a wiring party of ours and wounded two officers and one man; one such a dear boy, Wingfield, only 18, so keen and capable. They got him badly through the stomach. He was one of those who did the patrol. I purposely saved him from the Push, he was so young, though he implored me to let him go, and now he is gone. I fear he can hardly recover—anyway we shan’t see him again. He came from 4^th Battalion. The flies have suddenly got very bad, they pervade everything, crawl into all food and generally harry one—notwithstanding fly-papers, creosote, spraying and every device we can think of. The Padre will tell you all about this part of the line and the country. I miss him sadly. We are a very dull party without him. Fine, and pleasantly warm. Whenever the wind in E. they order a gas ‘Alert’, when gas helmets have to be worn in a certain way, and other precautions taken. Of course, the wind is S.W., but the gas ‘Alert’ is still on.