At nine o’clock this morning there was an alarm, and our battery was turned out, and all ready to move off within ten minutes, which is pretty quick work. The alarm was only a false one for practice and I hope they won’t ‘cry wolf’ too often.
Two battleships from the French navy, which are allotted to this section of the canal, were doing firing practice this morning. This afternoon the colonel, the battery commanders, and us, and a subaltern from each battery went up to Railhead. The line has got about twenty-five miles out now and is just short of Romani. A funny jolly old train, but she does the work alright. Not a wildly exciting journey as it is desert the whole way, though there is a good deal of scrub in parts. We passed a good many Anzac patrols but I don’t think the Turk would find it very hard to slip between them, because although the country looks flat, it is far from it, and the patrols are a mile apart.
The 156th Infantry Brigade were at Railhead with some sappers, and they said they found it a bit lonely up there and seemed anxious for us to hurry up and come there, but I think our next stopping place is going to be further than that and more to the north. We got back soon after seven and Elliott and I went and had a bathe about eight; the water was very warm and full of phosphorus. Franklyn caught a bass of one and half pounds while we were there.