with the Brigade-Major's greatcoat in my
hurry! We raced our lorry through country looking just like the Romney
Marshes, Sussex. As we went we met refugees flying from a burning town
which had been set on fire by German shells. We also passed immense
amounts of transports; for troops must live even when they fight. On
the way I suddenly saw the back of my last General at D----. You
remember him--a very pleasant man. Well, he showed us round the
trenches. The shells were bursting up along the forward line held by
my brother Hal's[3] old regiment [4th King's Own]. You could see the
shrapnel bursting on the ground, and perhaps setting fire to something
or other. None of the shells were near us, so we were quite safe.
Leaving the line about dark, we had to rattle home. Of course we lost
our way, as our maps are on such a small scale, and the inhabitants of
one little town told us the wrong direction, mistaking our French, I
suppose! But we were not to be done, for we picked up an old lady
trotting along in the dark, and, having satisfied her that we were
_not_ Germans, she soon showed us the road, coming a couple of miles
with us. I arrived home--or, rather, at my billet--shivering about
7.30 p.m., having had heavy cold rain during a great part of the day.
I turned out to an "Alarm" Parade at 9 o'clock, returning to my house
again at 10 p.m. So, you see, I am not eating the bread of idleness!
To-day we have all been out and got very wet. It is unpleasant, but
one cannot help it in war. I have had very hard work with my returns,
and my Quartermaster is getting old. However, I shall rub along now, I
trust! To-morrow I am sending my R.C. soldiers to a church with holes
in the roof from shells. Don't you think I really deserve well of my
Catholic acquaintances, for I have had the priest down twice to see
them. Our host tells me that the Germans came here; the people ran
away, and that the Germans ran after them, caught eleven, made them
dig a big hole in a field, and then shot them. I wonder if it is true.
Certainly I have seen some few graves in the fields with no names,
just little crosses of rough wood. They may be murdered inhabitants,
or they may be simply skirmishers who fell in some inglorious scrap.
Please send me a few more packets of plain envelopes; one bundle at a
time is quite enough, as I write on this note-book paper; it reduces
the amount I have to carry. Some men have been sent to me to be
instructed in Machine