a big target
that a torpedo could hardly miss her, and as yesterday was the date
the German threat to sink every armed ship at sight came into force,
our danger is no doubt great. (She was afterwards torpedoed in the
Mediterranean with the loss of 402 lives.) All are ordered to put on
our life belts, and even as we lie here many are going about with
these cumbrous things on, but most are content to carry them under
their arms.

A meeting was held yesterday, and crews of two N.C.O.'s and thirteen
men were chosen to man each of our fifty-five boats in case we should
get holed, while the rest of us have to scramble into the nearest boat
that has not its full complement.

_March 3rd._--We still lie in Plymouth Bay. Rumour says two German
cruisers have broken through our cordon and are somewhere on the
prowl. This is the latest reason I have heard for our still lying
here.

A corporal shot himself this morning, the result of a letter from his
sweetheart who dreamt that she saw him badly wounded, with his head
swathed in bandages. Stupid fellow, superstition should have told him
that this meant a wedding. He made a clumsy job of it, and a big mess
in the Orderly Room where it happened.

2 p.m.--At noon we cast off and in less than an hour had sailed
through the tortuous waterway and were out in the open sea. We have
two destroyers ahead and one astern. All are happy at the thought of
being on the move, lying in the bay was getting irksome. All have now
taken to their life belts. As a precaution against a surprise we have
a submarine guard of 200 men on duty at a time. These parade the top
deck with their rifles.

_March 4th._--Our escort left us last night at 7. Few are thinking of
submarines as is proved by two out of every three appearing for
breakfast without their preservers, or war babies as they are often
called.

_March 5th._--Yesterday afternoon while I was busy inoculating down in
D. deck six short blasts were given by the whistle, denoting danger,
when all had to rush to their allotted posts at the boats with life
preservers on. I guessed it was only practice, which is invariably
carried out the second day a troopship is at sea, and as I had only
four more injections to give, and these four men had not heard the
signal, I finished these, detaining my orderly who got as white as a
ghost. All must have got into their places quickly, all were in
perfect order when I reached the Orderly Room, the post of