Devon Officers Remaining Fit for Duty at the End of the Siege (Rajab—regimental Barber)
It was well on in the day before the 1st Battalion got back to its camp at the Railway Cutting.
On Sunday, March 4th, a Thanksgiving Service was held on the flat ground between the Convent Hill and the Naval Brigade Hill, which was attended by Generals Buller and White, and on its conclusion the battalion moved into tents outside the works and in front of Gloucester Post.
It was a strange experience moving out into the open, away from the protection of the works. The nerves of most had had a severe strain from want of food and continual anxiety.
It was the anxiety which killed. There is nothing more conducive to the deterioration of men's minds than false alarms on an empty stomach.