At Ypres with Best-Dunkley | Page 7

The others went up the line. It is
funny, isn't it? I am amused. I take all these changes with equal
equanimity. I am quite agreeable whatever happens.... I know that

whatever happens all will turn out right. I shall arrive at the right place
at the right time. It is most interesting. I expect you will be pleased at
the delay!
"When I got back I saw the Adjutant and reported to him. He was with
the padre, an Irishman who was an officer in Carson's Ulster Volunteer
Force, at the time. He was amused, and the padre said 'Lucky man!' So
I have had a nice easy day, writing letters and strolling about....
"There are a whole crowd of Portuguese here now. A large number
marched up from the station, with band playing, this morning. I find
that the Portuguese troops pay more attention to saluting than do the
French; I have received more salutes from Portuguese than from French;
but I hear that the discipline of the Portuguese in the trenches is very
bad indeed.
"I notice that it is announced in the paper to-day that a violent artillery
bombardment is in progress between Ypres and the sea. There you
are--that is the preliminary bombardment which always precedes a
great battle in war of to-day."
"June 3rd.
"I am still here, and have heard nothing further about going up the line.
The weather is still hot and fine--summer at its best. Yesterday evening
I went down town as usual. When I got back I found some Portuguese
officers in the mess. Everybody was talking French; it was amusing;
but I soon disappeared to my tent. Macdonald left this tent some days
ago; Leigh went up the line; ---- took the latter's place: so now there are
just ---- and I in Tent 12. He returned slightly tight about 11, and talked
a lot of stuff, telling me many stories of his lurid past! He seems to
have been a gay undergraduate at Jesus College, Oxford, seventeen
years ago; he is now thirty-eight. His home is in ----. His two children
live there. He has a daughter fifteen and a son in the Cathedral choir.
Yet he himself is a Quaker! And he is in the Army! He was present at
the Battle of the Marne. He is a most quaint individual altogether.
"He and I were censoring-letters this morning. It was amusing, but soon

became boring as most of the men employed the same formula: 'Just a
line to let you know that I am in the pink, hoping this finds you in the
best of health as this leaves me at present, etc.'!
"I went down town this afternoon and had a bath (an expensive luxury
which cost me 2s.) and strawberries and cream (which cost 3s. 6d.)
That just gives you an idea of prices in this God-forsaken land named
France....
"I also looked inside St. Michael's Church during the afternoon service.
It appears to be a case of come in and go out when you please. There is
one redeeming feature about the French people: they take their religion
seriously, and the children are systematically taught. One can see that.
The priest is a depressing-looking old chap. The service in the Gallican
Church is much nicer than the service in Roman Catholic, or extreme
High Anglican churches in England. There were not nearly so many
candles to-day carried in procession as last Sunday. Nor was the
congregation so large.
"I read the Middleton Guardian correspondence to ---- in the tent when
I got back. He was interested. We then argued until about 11.
Macdonald, in a tent close by, called out 'Floyd, shut up!' The latter is
marked 'temporary base' for a month; that is why he has not yet gone up
the line. All the others who came out when I did have now gone up the
line; I am the only one left behind!"
"June 4th.
" ... At 3.50 this afternoon I was informed that the Adjutant wished to
see me; so I went to the orderly room. He informed me that I go up the
line to-morrow morning. I go to the 2/5th Lancashire Fusiliers, 55th
Division....
"Now I am going to bed in my tent for the last time in this peaceful
place, where the only reminder of the fact that war is raging is to be
traced in the encamped city on the sand dunes above the town and the
swarms of soldiers. The sunset is fine, the air is now a little cooler after
the heat of the day, and the sea and the river calm and refreshing."

Thus ended my long wait at Étaples. The following morning (June 5) I
rose at 6. Having had breakfast, I reported at