In his 23 April 1918 entry just published, Lincoln Lee reflects on how diary-writing serves as a kind of consolation or comfort in a time of great distress: “A man has in a way gained something when merely to be dry has become a luxury. All is a matter of comparison, after all, and the fellows who find respite in cognac or “two up” are attending the same end as the superior individual who seeks solace in Shelley and keeping a crazy diary.”
To depart from the diary format of this blog, the photograph below is held by Lincoln’s descendants, and shows him either writing or sketching, with a grassy bank behind him and a cigarette in his mouth. The photograph is not dated and digital restoration work has been done on it by Pixelfix. Lincoln’s uniform appears well pressed, so it is possible it was taken while he was in England in 1917, before deployment to the front. It seemed appropriate to post it here.
Walk March 