Wednesday 11th November 1914

Conditions in the tented camp at Frensham were becoming increasingly difficult (see 28th October) with heavy and persistent rain through the early part of November. What must have been the general disaffection among the men was reported in a letter home by J.B. Priestley. He had himself been ill and was highly critical of the camp medical staff for in his view simply dispensing 'pills and powders'. He went on to describe conditions;

" I feel wild with the authorities for keeping us here so long … It is miserable in camp during the evening; the YMCA tents are good in their way for reading and writing, but they are vastly overcrowded. So on these cold, drizzling nights, we sit huddled in our tents, and often the prospect is so dreary that we lie down in our blankets about 7 o’clock and try to sleep … They have no right to keep us here so long. I don’t think there is a camp in England treated so badly. Some days ago I read in the ‘Daily News’, an article complaining in no measured terms about keeping recruits in camp”.

Priestley had been told that there were plans for a move to barracks at Aldershot on 22^nd November.