The journey through France was quite uneventful. Sleeping or reading
the whole day through, the Subaltern only remembered Rouen, passed at
about midday, and Amiens later in the evening. The train had paused at
numerous villages on its way, and in every case there had been violent
demonstrations of enthusiasm. In one case a young lady of prepossessing
appearance had thrust her face through the window, and talked very
excitedly and quite incomprehensibly, until one of the fellows in the
carriage grasped the situation, leant forward, and did honor to the
occasion. The damsel retired blushing.
At Amiens various rumors were afloat. Somebody had heard the Colonel
say the magic word "Liège." Pictures of battles to be fought that very
night thrilled some of them not a little.
* * * * *
Dawn found the Battalion hungry, shivering and miserable, paraded by
the side of the track, at a little wayside station called Wassigné. The
train shunted away, leaving the Battalion with a positive feeling of
desolation. A Staff Officer, rubbing sleep from his eyes, emerged from
a little "estaminet" and gave the Colonel the necessary orders. During
the march that ensued the Battalion passed through villages where the
three other regiments in the Brigade were billeted. At length a village
called Iron was reached, and their various billets were allotted to
each Company.
The Subaltern's Company settled down in a huge water-mill; its Officers
being quartered in the miller's private house.
A wash, a shave and a meal worked wonders.
And so the journey was finished, and the Battalion found itself at
length in the theater of operations.
* * * * *
I have tried in this chapter to give some idea of the ease and
smoothness with which this delicate operation of transportation was
carried out. The Battalions which composed the First Expeditionary
Force had been spread in small groups over the whole length and breadth
of Britain. They had been mobilized, embarked, piloted across the
Channel in the face of an undefeated enemy fleet, rested, and trained
to their various areas of concentration, to take their place by the
side of their French Allies.
All this was accomplished without a single hitch, and with a speed
that was astonishing. When the time comes for the inner history of
the war to be written, no doubt proper praise for these preliminary
arrangements will be given to those who so eminently deserve it.