A traverse in the trench just before it passes the command post, which can be identified by the pile of earth and steel fence section in the centre of the photograph. The condition of these original trenches were notorious. Prone to collapse by bad weather as well as shell fire, only the most primitive methods of revetting were employed using whatever materials came to hand. Drains Those ones full of water are easiest to move in, but rather disappointing as places of habitation. We sit on the Firing Step all night, and wheeze and spit and smoke.
Cigarettes save the situation.
To keep warm is only possible occasionally - to keep dry is a farce. The mass of telephone wiring leading into the dugout is still in place, as are spare wiring drums. Spent bullets abound and a replaced section of planking edged by scorched sections of the trench walls indicate, possibly, a direct hit from an enemy shell. I doubt if we would have made it across the field to view the trench and dugout in the first place, and we weren't burdened with the accoutrements of war either. Although complaining at the time, the content of the letter extracts above brought to me a touch of shame - I'll certainly think twice before complaining again about the Flanders mud.