our next stopping place. We were disturbed a little during the morning
by enemy planes dropping bombs on the town, but none fell very near us.

In the afternoon we moved on and parked our guns near the station along
with those of the other British Batteries, which had arrived before us.
Bombing raids continued and were more serious that afternoon than in the
morning. One bomb fell on a house, which was full of men from one of the
other Batteries, and caused a number of casualties. It was only by good
luck that a number of my own men were not in that house at the time.
Fortunately I had had words, as two tired men will, with one of the
officers of the other Battery, about the joint use of the kitchen, and
my men, when I asked them, had decided that they preferred, as always,
to "run their own show" and not "pig in with other Batteries." To that
attitude of independence some of them probably owe their lives.

In the afternoon Raven turned up, and said that he had arranged for us
to go on to Treviso by train. We loaded our guns on to trucks, and
waited several hours in the station yard for the promised train. It was
cold and wet and more bombers came over us. They had bombed the station
for the last three nights, I heard. But nothing hit it while we were
there. The train left at 9.30 p.m. Leary and another officer and I tried
to share one wet blanket. We were too wet and cold to sleep. I walked up
and down the carriage trying to get warm. They bombed the railway
several times during our journey, and once, when a bomb fell near our
train, there was a rumour that the engine driver had gone away and left
us standing. But it was quite untrue. We crawled along, with many stops.
It seemed a quite interminable journey. But at 8 o'clock next morning,
the 1st of November, we came to Treviso.

CHAPTER XXIV

THOUGHTS AFTER THE DISASTER

We hung about for a while in the station, nobody knowing what was to
happen next. Then Leary and I went off to try to find some food. We had
been living just lately on ration biscuits and a tin of Australian peach
jam. There was not much left at the Buffet, where we found Bixio, but we
got a little salami and some eels and wine and coffee. Meanwhile our
train had gone on to Mestre, owing to a mistake between two railway
officials, and had to return next day. Leary's feet were so bad that he
could hardly walk. I got them dressed for him by the Italian Red Cross,
but he could walk no better aft