Sunday 20th June 1915

Back in the rather more comfortable conditions at Bramshott, Priestley wrote home to his family, reflecting on his recent experiences at Longmoor and Whitehill and looking forward to what still lay in store over the coming days;

 “We were glad to get back from Longmoor and Whitehill Camps; they were wretched places and the food was very bad. We were on the big ranges day long there – Saturday and Sunday as well. The heat was terrific and on the last Sunday and Monday – that is a week ago – large numbers of our men had to be taken to hospital suffering from sunstroke.

They are certainly trying to make us as comfortable as possible here at Bramshott. The food is very good. First thing in the morning – at 6am – we have what is called ‘gunfire’ – tea and sweet biscuits. Then at eight comes breakfast when we have bacon or a couple of boiled eggs. For dinner we have roasts and stews – sometimes meat and potato pie and also jam or currant puddings or stewed rhubarb. For tea we have jam or cake or tinned fruits. Our battalion has a recreation room with the day’s papers, illustrated weeklies and every kind of game.

Tomorrow our Brigade is going to spend the night in some trenches we have dug in the neighbourhood, and later in the week, the whole Division is going to bivouac”.

Pte. William Sutcliffe Wood (see 11^th September 1914) was transferred for duty with 23^rd Division Headquarters.