Yes, It was my destiny to be “in at the finish;” but the finish was not, as so many of our optimists then thought it would be, at Ypres in 1917!  The decisive victory was not to be ours until Foch and Sir Henry Wilson were at the head of military affairs and D’Esperey at Cerna and Allenby at Armageddon had won their Waterloo in the September of 1918; and when Stockwell’s Force fired the last shots at Ath in Belgium I was there!

CHAPTER VII

THE VALE OF ACQUIN

We now commenced that early rising and continuous training with which we soon became heartily “fed up.”

“June 19th.

“I rose at 3.30 this morning, made a hurried breakfast, and went on parade at 4.15.  We marched about three miles to the training area.  Our dress on this occasion was without tunics, but Sam Brown and other articles of equipment over our shirts; shirt-sleeves rolled up.  When we reached very open country, high up on the moorland, a thunder-storm came on and we were drenched!  It was splendid.  As we were wet through, we marched back to our village again when it got fine!  It was quite fine again when we got back.  It is just a little cooler now, but is quite fine and warm.

“At 11 we had a conference at Battalion Headquarters.  The Colonel informed us that we are moving again, after all, to-morrow!  We are going to another village eighteen miles away.  I expect the reason is because the selected training area for us while here is not satisfactory.  I am sorry we are moving again so soon, because I like this village....”

“June 20th.

" ...  An order came round yesterday evening to the effect that we might move to the new place by bus, it might be by march; in case it should be the latter we must be prepared to move off at 2 in the morning.  Later in the evening Regimental Sergeant-Major Hoyle came to see us in B Company Officers’ Mess, as he frequently does by invitation, and told us that it was now official that we were to move by motor-bus at 7 this morning; so we all decided to go to bed.  We got up at 4.30 this morning and had breakfast.  We were then informed that the move was ‘washed out’ for to-day, and that we were to carry on with training.  A parade was ordered, and took place at 6.30, for the purpose of proceeding to the training area as per yesterday; but it rained, and the parade was dismissed with orders to stand by until further orders.  Then a box-respirator inspection in billets, with drill on same, was ordered and took place; it was, I may incidentally remark, the second they had already had during the day.  This kind of thing went on for some time; the weather cleared up; and then another parade was ordered and took place at 9.15.  We then marched off to the training area.  We went four or five miles this time, further than we went yesterday.  We passed through that village where the padre and I lost the Battalion on the march here on Saturday!  We halted