CHAPTER II.

THE 1ST DIVISION.


Next morning the Battalion disembarked at Le Havre and marched to a camp
at Sanvic. It was not to remain here long, and on the 14th the Battalion
entrained to join the First Army. The train journey was long, and the men
experienced for the first time the inconveniences of travelling in French
troop trains, being crowded fifty-six at a time into trucks labelled
"Hommes 48: Chevaux en long 8." Chocques was reached on the 15th and the
men marched therefrom to billets in a village close by called Oblinghem.
The Battalion was soon incorporated in the 2nd Infantry Brigade of the 1st
Division, a mixed brigade consisting of four Regular battalions reinforced
by two Territorial battalions. A few days were spent in Divisional Reserve
at Oblinghem during which time all the officers and several
non-commissioned officers were sent to the trenches at Festubert or
Richebourg for instruction by the Regular battalions which were holding
the line.

At Oblinghem the men learnt for the first time what French billets were
like and experienced the insanitary conditions prevailing on the small
farms and the draughty and dirty barns. Looking around the countryside all
seemed quiet and peaceful. The ploughman ploughed the fields, others sowed
and the miners went to their daily tasks as usual. At times it was
difficult to realise that the firing line was within a few miles, but the