ndless stretches of monotonous and dreary sand.
Under such circumstances the Red Triangle is Tommy's tuck shop; his
church--with the chaplain as the parson; his post-office, concert hall,
social room, school, and home. This is true of every fighting front, and
that is why the Association has won for itself a lasting place in the
affections of the manhood of the Empire.

A young soldier writing home the day after his arrival in Mesopotamia,
said the first thing he struck on landing was the welcome sign of the
Red Triangle. 'And,' said he, 'if we are ordered next to the North Pole,
I am sure we shall find it there!' The Y.M.C.A. secretary for
Mesopotamia tells of a visit he paid to a centre on the way to Bagdad.
It was a big bare marquee, crammed with men, with very little furniture
in it--the difficulties of transport being so great in those days--just
half a dozen tables and a few chairs, a heap of books, and a number of
games. There were six inches of dust all over the floor, and the
temperature was 120 degrees in the shade, yet one thing that attracted
the men to the Y.M.C.A. marquee was that it enabled them to escape the
heat of their own bell tents. Through the kindness of Sir Alfred Yarrow
a Red Triangle motor launch has since then been provided for use on the
Tigris, and has greatly simplified transport. The central Y.M.C.A. at
Bagdad is one of the best of our war buildings, and is situated on the
banks of the Tigris. An Association centre has been established on the
reputed site of the Garden of Eden.

* * * * *

The story of the Red Triangle in Palestine is an epic in itself. For
months the Association occupied dug-outs along the Palestine front, and
in those days one secretary devoted the whole of his time to making
personal purchases for officers and men, who could not themselves get
away to any centre of civilisation to make purchases on their own
account. Gaza was the first centre occupied in the Holy Land; Beersheba,
Jaffa, and Jerusalem being occupied later. At Jaffa the former German
Consulate was fitted up as a Y.M.C.A., and the Red Triangle as a matter
of course has made its appearance on a big building in Jerusalem.

Malta was a very important centre in the early days of the war, and the
Y.M.C.A. flourished in its numerous hospital camps. In Macedonia the
work has been difficult, but greatly appreciated in Salonica itself, as
well as on the Varda and the Struma. The ne