of many a Canadian brook and the charming
home life of Canadian woods, from which, as it seemed then, we were
likely to be cut off forever.

The Bishop of London paid a visit to our men, and addressed them from
the steps of the Town Hall in the Grande Place. The officers and men
were charmed with his personality.

It was a joy to me that we were to spend Easter at such a convenient
place. On Good Friday afternoon we had a voluntary service in front of
the Town Hall. It seemed very fitting that these men who had come in
the spirit of self-sacrifice, should be invited to contemplate, for at
least an hour, the great world sacrifice of Calvary. A table was
brought out from an estaminet nearby and placed in front of the steps.
I mounted on this and so was able to address the crowd which soon (p. 049)
assembled there. We sang some of the Good Friday hymns, "When I survey
the wondrous Cross", and "Jesu, Lover of my Soul." There must have
been several hundred present. I remember specially the faces of
several who were themselves called upon within a few weeks to make the
supreme sacrifice. Like almost all other religious services at the
front, this one had to struggle with the exigencies of war. A stream
of lorries at the side of the Grande Place and the noisy motor cycles
of despatch riders made an accompaniment to the address which rendered
both speaking and hearing difficult.

Easter Day rose bright and clear. I had a hall situated down a narrow
lane, which had been used as a cinema. There was a platform at one end
and facing it, rows of benches. On the platform I arranged the altar,
with the silk Union Jack as a frontal and with cross and lighted
candles for ornaments. It looked bright and church-like amid the
sordid surroundings. We had several celebrations of the Holy
Communion, the first being at six a.m. A large number of officers and
men came to perform their Easter duties. A strange solemnity
prevailed. It was the first Easter spent away from home; it was the
last Easter that most of those gallant young souls spent on earth. The
other chaplains had equally large attendances. We sang the Easter hymn
at each service, and the music more than anything else carried us back
to the days that were.

But our stay in Estaires was only for a time, and soon orders came
that we were to move. On April 7th, a bright and lovely spring morning,
the whole Division began its fateful journey to Ypres and marched off
to Cassel, abou