sale of tea and eatables, and for facilitating writing and
reading for the troops in camp. It was staffed by ladies in
the locality and was a real Godsend to us all. Picture us
from 6.30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on and off parade, in a muddy camp,
without even a semblance of a canteen or writing-hut, always
within sound of the bugle with its ever-recurring call for
Orderly Sergeants, tired out and wet through and inwardly
chafing at the unaccustomed discipline. Our spirits were on
a par with Bairnsfather's 'Fed-up one.' At the last note of
'the Retreat' we were free. Without the Y.M. touch we should
have had to stay in our bleak huts, constantly reminded of
our surroundings and discomforts. But these Y.M. people had
provided a comfortable, well-lighted, and, above all, warm
room, with plenty of books and papers and any amount of grub
and unlimited tea to wash it down. Isn't it wonderful how
many sorrows the British army can drown in a cup of tea?

"Apparently there's no need to tell the Y.M. people to 'get
a move on,' for before two months had elapsed they
installed in the very centre of the camp a large canteen,
with a reading and writing room. It made a big difference to
us, as we had the advantage of procuring a midday cup of
tea, coffee, or cocoa, and such luxuries as biscuits and
chocolate, also an evening's enjoyment, without the weary
trudge to and from the village. As the vaccinations and
inoculations were in progress at that time, the warm room
was a blessing and eased the wearisome day which would have
had to be spent in camp. More and more huts were erected,
and more and more men occupied them; so a very large new
Y.M. hut was quickly built near the camps and was opened in