Stay all night at Bois d’Alleux, Mount St. Eloy. The boys are given an extra ration of rum & – Oh! be joyful.
At 8 am I start out on bike for Division near Bruay. Meet Cpl. Harper & have dinner @ Houdain & later – tea in Bruay.
*Introduced in the winter of 1914, the rum ration was initially given to soldiers to combat the chill and damp of the trenches. In the front line, rum was issued twice a day – at dawn and at dusk. A rum jar held 1 gallon – enough for 64 men. Each man got approximately one third of a pint each week. On the side of the jar were stamped the intiials “S.R.D.” thought to stand for “Service Rations Depot” or “Service Reserve Depot”. Soldiers however, said they stood for “Seldom Reaches Destination”, “Soon Runs Dry” and ”Seldom Rarely Delivers”.
