The Fifth Leicestershire | Page 3

number were skilled men, and had joined the home army merely
because they thought it a good thing to do. And because they liked it,
and knew it was a good thing to do, they were content to accept humble
places in a force formed for home service and home defence only. Also,
at that stage it was not perfectly certain that everyone would be wanted,
and when the question of war service abroad was raised, and other men
were not serving at all, it is only natural that the thought passed through
some men's minds that the appeal was not for them. We think that the
battalion might be congratulated upon the general spirit of willingness
shown, especially as in the 17th August when the question was put
again more definitely, the percentage of those ready to extend the terms
of service was estimated at 90.
There were other phases of this call for extension of service, too
numerous to detail here; for example, on one occasion we were asked
to get six companies ready at once. This for a time upset everything, for,
as we have said, the original eight companies were taken from different
parts of the county, and there was a strong company comradeship, as
well as a battalion unity; and if six be taken out of eight it means
omissions, amalgamations, grafts, and all sorts of disturbances.
We left Duffield on the 15th of August, and marched to Derby Station.
Our train was timed to start at 11 p.m., and seeing that we arrived at
Luton at 2 p.m. the next day, the rate of motion was about 6 miles an
hour, not too fast for a train. But the truth is we did not start at 11 p.m.,
but spent hours standing in the cattle yard at Derby, while trucks and
guns were being arranged to fit one another. As that was our first

experience of such delay, the incident was impressed upon our minds,
and it counts one to the number of bars we said our medal should have.
As in Loughborough, so in Luton, our billets were schools. There was
one advantage about the Beech Hill Schools of Luton, namely, that the
whole battalion could assemble in the big room, sit on the floor, and
listen in comfort to words of instruction and advice. But day schools
were not intended for lodging purposes, and here again was displayed
Major Martin's skill in the erection of cookhouses and more wash-tubs
and other domestic essentials. The moment we got settled, however
happened to coincide with the moment at which the education branch
of the Town Council determined that the future of a nation depended
upon the education of her children, and thus it came to pass that on the
28th of August we moved out of the schools, and entered billets in
West Luton.
The long rows of houses were admirably suited to company billets.
Occupiers dismantled the ground floor front and took in three, and
generally four men at various rates. On the 2nd of October a universal
rate of 9d. a day each man was fixed. That made twenty-one shillings a
week towards paying off a rent which would average at the most twelve
shillings. The billets delighted us, and we hope the owners were as
pleased. We thank them and all we met in those billeting times for their
kind forbearance.
The headquarters and billets of senior officers were at Ceylon Hall. The
building was owned by the Baptists, and we found their committee
most willing and obliging. On one occasion they lent us their chapel
and organ for a Sunday service, and set their own service at a time to
suit ours, when churches in the town could not help us.
Altogether we were in Luton just 3 months training for war. To a great
extent the training was on ordinary lines. A routine was followed, and
all routines become dull and wearisome. We had been asked to go
abroad, we had expressed our willingness to go. This willingness grew
into a desire, which at intervals expressed itself in petulant words of
longing--"Are we ever going to France?" The answer was always the
same: "You will go soon enough, and you will stay long enough." This

increased our irritation. Suddenly, on one still and dark November day,
parade was sharply cancelled, we clad ourselves in full marching order,
there was just a moment to scrawl on a postcard a few last words home,
tender words were exchanged with our friends in the billets, and with
heavy tread and in solemn silence we marched forth along the Bedford
Road. There was a pillar box beside the road. It was only the leading
companies that could put the farewell card actually in the box,