The night before the battle of Neuve Chapelle, I went over to see the
captain in charge of the big gun, and he showed me the orders for the
next day, issued by the British General. He told me that at seven
o'clock it would be "Hell let loose", all down the line. Next morning
I woke up before seven, and blocked up my ears so that I should not be
deafened by the noise of artillery. But for some reason or other the
plans had been changed and I was quite disappointed that the Germans
did not get the hammering it was intended to give them. We were on the
left of the British line during the battle of Neuve Chapelle, and
were not really in the fight. The British suffered very heavily (p. 046)
and did not meet with the success which they had hoped for.

My son was wounded in this engagement and was sent out with the loss
of an eye. On returning from seeing him put into a hospital train at
Merville, I was held up for some hours in the darkness by the British
Cavalry streaming past in a long line. I was delighted to see them for
I thought we had broken through. On the next day to our great
disappointment we saw them going back again.

Near Canadian Headquarters at Sailly there was a large steam laundry
which was used as a bath for our men. It was a godsend to them, for
the scarcity of water made cleanliness difficult. The laundry during
bath hours was a curious spectacle. Scores of large cauldrons of
steaming water covered the floor. In each sat a man with only his head
and shoulders showing, looking as if he were being boiled to death. In
the mists of the heated atmosphere and in the dim light of candles,
one was reminded of Dore's illustrations of Dante's Inferno. In one of
them he represents a certain type of sinner as being tormented forever
in boiling water.

We had now finished our time in this part of the line and the Division
was ordered back for a rest. The General was troubled about my
transportation as I had no horse, but I quoted my favourite text, "The
Lord will provide." It made him quite angry when I quoted the text,
and he told me that we were engaged in a big war and could not take
things so casually. When, however, he had seen me on various occasions
picked up by stray motor cars and lorries and get to our destination
before he did, he began to think there was more in the text than he
had imagined. I was accused of helping Providence unduly by base
subterfuges such as standing in the middle of a road and co