No facilities whatever were extended to us beyond the most primitive of tools.  One party was sent into the adjacent woods to fell suitable trees to serve as posts, to trim them of branches, and to the required length of 10 feet.  Then they had to be carried by manual effort into the camp where the butt was chamfered and charred in a wood fire as a protection against too rapid decay.

While the posts were being prepared a second party was busily engaged in digging the holes for them.  Each hole had to be of a prescribed diameter, by one metre—­about 3 feet—­in depth, and they were set a certain distance apart.  Tree-felling might have been, and undoubtedly was, hard work to inexperienced hands, but hole digging!  That was set down as the unassailable limit.  Driving the pick and shovel in the rebellious ground was back-breaking in the hot sun and it had to be maintained without pause or slackening.

When the post had been planted the wire-pulling gang came along.  The wire used for the purpose was galvanised netting such as is used to enclose chicken runs, game preserves, and tennis grounds, reinforced by one or two equidistantly spaced lines of ordinary wire.  It had to be stretched taut by hand and moving the heavy roll by manual effort and uncoiling it as we advanced, demanded not only strength but dexterity.  At each post the wire was attached by the aid of a few staples.

Although we laboured zealously the task proved far more formidable than we had anticipated.  The fence was 7 feet in height, while I should think that from 600 to 800 yards had to be run.  The netting only enclosed three sides of the desired space, the fourth side being fenced in by a belt of trees.  In order to get the work done on time and to avoid being compelled to toil on Sundays, we had to labour long and hard.  We started shortly after six in the morning, but it was often about half-past six in the evening before we knocked off for the day.  We took a strange and inexplicable pride in the enterprise.  The fence was not built upon the typical shoddy German lines, but strictly in accordance with substantial British ideas.  I may mention that we had good reason to regret this display of zeal and excellent workmanship at a later date.

Seeing that the evening was well advanced before we ceased work we had little time for relaxation.  When we stowed our tools for the day we were dog-tired and were hustled into barracks.  It was work and sleep in deadly earnest, but we were mighty glad we succeeded in avoiding the threatened Sunday labour, because this was the only day we could devote to our own duties such as mending and washing clothes.