A number of the people stuck in Estcourt were old friends and acquaintances. Leo Amery, chief of The Times war correspondent service was there, waiting, like Churchill, to advance further with the army. “That evening,” said Churchill, “walking in the single street of the town, who should I meet but Captain Aylmer Haldane”. Churchill had known him from his days in the army in India. The commander in Estcourt was Colonel Charles Long, an acquaintance from the campaign in the Sudan. Atkins wrote: “We found a very good cook and we had some good wine. We entertained friends every evening, to our pleasure and professional advantage and, we believed, to our satisfaction.” Churchill’s valet, Thomas Walden, was no stranger to maintaining high standards in difficult circumstances after his journeys with Lord Randolph to Africa and India.