"Bien chaud" ("Very hot") they would cry, coming in with icicles on their moustaches and snow thick on their shoulders. Once an officer asked for coffee.
"Very hot, please."
"It is boiling, Monsieur." He gulped it down.
"It is the first hot food I have tasted for fourteen days."
"From Vaux?" we asked.
"Yes, front line trenches. Everything frozen, the wine in the wine-casks solid. Yes, another bowl, please."
Once another officer came in accompanied by an older man whom we thought must be his father. He begged for water.
"It comes straight from the main tap, it is neither filtered nor boiled," we told him.
"N'importe." No, he would not have tea nor coffee. Water, cold water. He had a raging, a devouring thirst. A glass was filled and given him.