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Major Francis D. Goode, 25, 50th North Div. says:

He was scared that they might run into a mine during the
night and as he stood on the bridge after nightfall he heard from
somewhere below a " dull thud" and said to one of his fellow officers ,
"My God , we've hit a mine!" What had happened really was that a
sailor below had been playing around with a can of self-heating
cocoa. These cans — the British had soups , stews and other
liquids which could be self-heated — had a wick through them which
when lit automatically heated the contents. To make it work right
one had to punch some holes in the lid. The sailor had not done
this and so the cocoa had exploded in his face. This single
explosion had caused other cans of self -heating cocoa to explode; as a
result the unfortunate soldier and his quarters was covered with cocoa.

The postponement had a terrible psychological effect on
the soldiers; "It was rather like being pushed into the operating
theater," he said , " only to find that the surgeon couldn't make it."

In an orchard a little while later that morning he saw a
friend of his whom he had been to school with and whom he had not
seen since 1930. This was an officer , a Major John Gay , whom he
saw cycling along a road. He said to Gay, " Hello , old boy,
haven't seen you in years. How is your sister? " Some time later that
day he learned that Gay , who was spotting for an artillery battery,
had been killed by a sniper.