British soldiers collecting eggs from hens in a rear line trench, in France, during World War I. With their 'Dixie's’ (cooking pots) full of eggs, three British soldiers are shown handling a hen and rabbit outside a fowl house in a trench behind the front line. It is not known if the rabbit shown here is the regimental mascot, or not. It is certainly rather unusual to find such a domestic - almost pastoral - scene in an underworld setting like this, though it should be remembered that these soldiers would have been resting at a billet. In general, British soldiers on the Western Front were extremely critical of the food that they were given. As the main part of their daily diet was bully beef, bread and biscuits, fresh eggs - and rabbit stew - would have been a luxury. It could be that these eggs have been requisitioned by the officers, rather than the men. When the army claimed that the men always received two hot meals a day, they received over 200,000 letters from fuming soldiers, who said that the army was not telling the truth. [Original reads: 'OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN ON THE BRITISH WESTERN FRONT IN FRANCE. A fowl house in the trenches just behind the front line. They get fresh eggs from them every day.']