Saturday. August 3. First day of the advanced French class. Our instructor, or teacher rather, a Second Lieut. named Ardagh, is an M.A. of England and France, and speaks English, French, German and Italian fluently. He was born in France and invariably thinks in French. A first class man for the job. Gave us a dictation today, in which I was top with 4 mistakes, but some others had as many as 27. I foresee some weeding out. The rest of the day was chiefly remarkable for an omelette!! made from Cooks Farm Eggs and Golden Syrup.
I think I must have dropped in weight from nearly 13 stone to less than 10, but I’m getter fitter rapidly now. Similarly, with our increased grub, we become more civilised again. We have indulged in a small china cruet, more plates. We put the jam on our plates, and don’t dip out of the pots. No question about it, hunger drives man down to the level of beasts. Wait till I tell you about Rastatt.