The Great War As I Saw It | Page 9

It is such a weird sight that it has got on my nerves." He was a
young boy of seventeen who had come from Vancouver. Many times
afterwards I met him in France and Belgium, when big things were
being done in the war, and we talked together over that night in Gaspé
Basin and the strange thoughts that crowded upon us then. He was not
the only one in that great fleet of transports who felt the significance of
the enterprise.
On Saturday afternoon we resumed our journey and steamed out of the
narrows. Outside the bay the ships formed into a column of three
abreast, making a line nine miles in length. Several cruisers, and later a
battleship and battle cruiser, mounted guard over the expedition. Off
Cape Race, the steamship "Florizel" joined us, bringing the
Newfoundland troops. Our family party was now complete.
It was indeed a family party. On every ship we had friends. It seemed
as if Canada herself were steaming across the ocean. Day after day, in
perfect weather, keeping our relative positions in absolute order, we
sped over the deep. There was none of the usual sense of loneliness
which characterizes the ocean voyage. We looked at the line of vessels
and we felt that one spirit and one determination quickened the whole

fleet into individual life.
On board the "Andania" the spirit of the men was excellent. There (p.
027) was physical drill daily to keep them fit. There was the
gymnasium for the officers. We had boxing matches for all, and sword
dances also for the Highlanders. In the early morning at five-thirty, the
pipers used to play reveille down the passages. Not being a Scotsman,
the music always woke me up. At such moments I considered it my
duty to try to understand the music of the pipes. But in the early hours
of the morning I made what I thought were discoveries. First I found
out that all pipe melodies have the same bass. Secondly I found out that
all pipe melodies have the same treble. On one occasion the pipers left
the security of the Highlanders' quarters and invaded the precincts of
the 14th Battalion, who retaliated by turning the hose on them. A
genuine battle between the contending factions was only averted by the
diplomacy of the O.C.
I had made friends with the wireless operators on board the ship, and
every night I used to go up to their cabin on the upper deck and they
would give me reports of the news which had been flashed out to the
leading cruiser. They told me of the continued German successes and
of the fall of Antwerp. The news was not calculated to act as a soothing
nightcap before going to bed. I was sworn to secrecy and so I did not
let the men know what was happening at the front. I used to look round
at the bright faces of the young officers in the saloon and think of all
that those young fellows might have to endure before the world was
saved. It gave everyone on board a special sacredness in my eyes, and
one felt strangely inadequate and unworthy to be with them.
The men lived below decks and some of them were packed in pretty
tightly. Had the weather been rough there would have been a good deal
of suffering. During the voyage our supply of flour gave out, but as we
had a lot of wheat on board, the men were set to grind it in a coffee mill.
More than fifty per cent of the men, I found, were members of the
Church of England, and so I determined to have a celebration of Holy
Communion, for all who cared to attend, at five o'clock every morning.
I always had a certain number present, and very delightful were these

services at that early hour. Outside on deck we could hear the tramp
and orders of those engaged in physical drill, and inside the saloon
where I had arranged the altar there knelt a small gathering of young
fellows from various parts of Canada, who were pleased to find that the
old Church was going with them on (p. 028) their strange pilgrimage.
The well-known hymn--
"Eternal Father strong to save, Whose arm hath bound the restless
wave"
had never appealed to me much in the past, but it took on a new
meaning at our Sunday church parade, for we all felt that we were a
rather vulnerable body in any determined attack that might be made
upon us by the German navy. Now and then vessels would be sighted
on the horizon and there was always much excitement and speculation
as to what they might be. We could see the cruisers