Kettle writes of having been sent directly to the front fire-trench where they were heavily bombarded, but says they are now in reserve. He reflects on the experience of constant danger and how it affects the soldiers. He feels his inadequacies as a platoon officer, and wishes he could do something he felt fully equal to, in which his talents would be fully utilised. He would like to get some press work ' ... partly because I need money and partly because I think I could influence Irish opinion anew in the right direction as at the beginning of the war'.