In Great Spirits

by Archie Barwick

  21st August. All tents are struck this morning & everything packed up neatly. There is a big medical examination in the camp today. A lot of Australian troops have been coming through from Boulogne way. I think they must either be the 3rd Division or some of our new formations, & New Zealanders are also pouring in. We have been practising all the morning, & again this afternoon we were out drilling one another & detailing by turn. This evening I came out on my own to do a bit of studying. I had a couple of hours at it, & then the pretty scene in front of me claimed my attention.

  I am sitting on a little grassy bank overlooking the sea for miles, & it flows right at my feet at the present time for the tide is coming in. Away to the west & towards old England the summer sun was setting in a bed of purple & golden clouds & the reflections it threw on the water were lovely. The fishing boats were all out with full sails up & they looked like huge white birds sitting on the water. To my left is the pretty little town of Paris Plage with 2 great lighthouses standing boldly out like sentinels of the deep, their snowy white appearance showing splendidly against the hills of green trees at their back. On my right is nothing but the coast of France (very sandy at this part) & the wide wide ocean. Behind me are the hills with the railway running at the foot, & the great military camps & hospitals of Etaps, also the town of the same name. It is principally a fishing place & many curious sights are to be seen when walking through it. On the flats below me a lot of our chaps & some Scotties are playing football, & about 100 yards from where I am sitting an elderly Y.M.C.A. man is giving the boys his weekly lecture on the French language.

  It has been a lovely day today, something like an Australian day in early spring, just cold enough for us to keep our coats on & plenty of sunshine.

  I have just counted an engine going past here with no less than 73 trucks & all big ones, & a troop train is passing her filled with khaki & guns, all bound I suppose for the Somme.

  22nd August. All last night trains were passing in one constant stream, about half a mile between, & such trains they were, some of them half a mile in length. One train had nothing but enormous great howitzers & caterpillars on board, & thousands & thousands of troops went through & ammunition, aeroplanes, waggons & field guns, & small howitzers by the hundred. They must be going to make a mighty drive or something like that, for supplies of all sorts are simply pouring in. I heard some heavy firing early this morning up the coast towards Belgium, so I expect there must have been either a naval action, or they were bombarding the coastal defences of Belgium.

  This morning we went up to the Q.M. to get our shortages. He was very snappy at first but when he found out we were going to an Officers’ Training School, what a change came over him, he could scarcely do enough for us. We got the best of everything he had, so tonight I have a clean change of clothing, the first for a long time, & how nice it feels to be clean once more.

  There is plenty of nice cool clean water here, for a little creek runs quite close to us & I can tell you it is well patronised. There was sports here again today & the band was playing. The trains are still pouring through, all loaded with troops, guns & the various articles connected with the Army.

  24th August. Today is the anniversary of my second year in the Army. I never thought it would last this long when I enlisted, but you can never tell how long it is going to last.

  25th August. This morning we all had 5 minutes each with the squad & drilled them as we liked for that time. That took up over 2 hours so we had a fair length of time at drill. After we finished we went & had a swim in the mouth of the Somme. There is a pretty stiff current running in her, but the water was lovely & we enjoyed ourselves.

  They are a fine lot of chaps with the exception of one or two who are inclined to be conceited & know all. They will learn a severe lesson I’ll bet before it is over; they will come what the boys call a “gutser”.

  27th August. Sunday round once more & we are still here & kicking our heels with impatience at being kept so long at the Base.

  This morning a few of us went for a walk round the beach, & got caught lovely in a sharp squall which sprang up suddenly from the south-west. We took refuge in the sand dunes but got pretty well wet to the skin. The sandy beach is a favourite walk with us, for it is very pretty & the salt air is bonzer & there are always plenty of “white horses” breaking round about the entrance.

  Last night the M.P.s made a raid & caught everyone crossing the railway line without a pass. They caught 2 of our chaps among them.

  We got the shock of our lives today. An order came along that we were wanted at the orderly room at 1.30. Of course we were all there to time, & many were the guesses made as to the reason of it. Some of us reckoned marching orders for England, others reckoned duties, but we were all a long way out as we were soon to find out. At last out came the orderly room Sergeant, & we were all lined up in expectation. He reads out the message form he is holding. Well of all the shocks as ever I got this was the heaviest but it was over in a minute & I looked at the boys’ faces. You would have killed yourself laughing if you could only have seen them, they looked so blank & idiotic. Well the result was that we all burst out laughing together. The message was that we were to return to Divisional Hqrs & so that ended our long-looked-for trip to England. I can’t imagine what we are being recalled for. It will be rotten if we have to re-join our Batts after going away with the expectation of getting a commission & putting in 10 days hard grind down here. I can tell you I don’t feel too cheerful tonight by any means. We are leaving here I believe on Tuesday morning.

  This evening some of us went over & had a game of cricket, & got ordered off the ground by one of those cold-footed M.P.s who have never even seen a shot fired; however we went & saw the officer & he towelled the M.P. Sergeant up properly & so we had our game. The Canadians were having a game of baseball just close to us. It seems a funny game altogether to me.

  28th August. We went for a stroll round the beach this morning & picked up a couple of dogs. We then struck out across the heath & went hunting for rabbits. The dogs put a few up & we had a bit of fun. We then went down to the beach & the tide was just coming in. It travels across the open sand very fast; we watched it come in breaker after breaker. We then stripped off & had a fine bit of fun in the surf with a big piece of pine that we found lying on the beach. We used it to shoot the breakers with & there were some nice busters to be had.

  29th August. Got our marching orders last night & this morning we were up at 2 o’clock for we had to catch the early train from Etaps. A big draft went away with us & the camp band played us down to the railway station — it is one of the worst bands as ever I heard.

  Left Etaps in big trucks about 5 o’clock & we soon reached Boulogne, where big batches of Tommies & a few Australians got out to go over to England. How we envied them, for we should have been with them by rights.

  Our train ran at a pretty fair pace & we were soon in Calais, where we got some cakes & tea (we were very hungry for we had no breakfast). Once on our way we were soon in Hazebrouck, where we had to report to the R.T.O. He had orders to put us on another train, & so off we went to Poperinge, the renowned Belgian town. She is a good big place & shows a few signs of being knocked about by shell fire. Here we heard the guns again after an absence of a fortnight from them. I need scarcely say they were not particularly cheerful, especially in our present state of mind, for you can guess how we felt — didn’t give a cuss what happened.

  We saw some of our chaps about here & learnt that the Brigade was about 4 miles out of the town. We had to report from here to Divisional Hqrs so off we started & had to march 4 miles before we reached her, & it just started to rain as we got there. We reported & after a little while we were taken to some quarters where we are to put the night in. After we had got our gear off we went into the little Belgian café where we had a good tea of bread, butter & coffee & eggs. The Belgian girls are very funny with their broken English.

  30th August. It rained like cats
& dogs all night, fully 2 inches must have fallen. We got up at 8.30, shaved, cleaned up & had our breakfast in the café. This morning we are to have an interview with the Colonel & we will know what’s doing but you can bet that we will return to our units.

  It was about 2 miles to Hqrs, & after a few explanations we got orders to return to our units so off we went after saying goodbye to one another. The road leading to our Batt was absolutely horrible — mud 3 feet deep & water everywhere, for it had been raining pretty heavily for the last 2 days & nights & Belgium has a nice name for mud at any time but under the present conditions it seemed about the limit.

  I was very glad I had not written home telling them of what I was up to but I believe Len did. All I hope is that that letter never reaches them for it will make them so disappointed, but no more than our little party. I suppose it’s no good getting down in the mouth over it, & I for one am looking on the bright side of things, but I can tell you I did not like the idea of returning to the boys for I am woefully thin skinned & sensitive, but you have to put up with a lot of disappointment in the Army.

  However I reached the Batt & it was not so bad as I thought it would be, for the boys welcomed me back heartily. I am not skiting when I say that they think a fair bit of me, for I have always acted as fairly & squarely to all sides as it was possible for me to do & I am sure I have very few enemies. I reported at once to our orderly room & here I saw the Colonel & Major. They were surprised to see me, they knew nothing whatever of us being recalled, however the Colonel said he would make a note of it. I then reported to the Company & was put on the strength. Was handed out a fine batch of letters which I was very pleased to get.

  31st August. This morning is a beauty after the rain & the sun is shining brightly & mud is drying as fast as ever it can. I saw the officer & got off parade this morning, & am now writing this in a fine Y.M.C.A. within 100 yards of our camp. You can buy apple tarts & etc in here, not bad is it.

  All the Brigade men, such as trench mortar & machine gunners, have gone into the trenches & we follow them tomorrow so we will soon be in the thick of it again.

  1st September. Cool & cloudy this morning & the country is drying fast — you can’t beat a fair wind to dry the mud. A lot of Tommies came into our camp last night. They are taking the huts over from us & we are going into the firing line sometime today.

  Got off parade again this morning. I had a few stitches that wanted mending in one of my boots, so the officer let me off to go & have it done. Things are very dear in Poperinge; they know how to charge for things alright. There is some nice lace in there that I would have liked to have got but I was not quite financial enough.

  This afternoon the Colonel had us all formed up on the parade ground & he gave us a good lecture against the gas which we are bound to get in the Ypres Salient, where we are going for a while. It is a very dangerous thing alright & we can’t be too careful about it for it has lifelong effects on a man if he gets a bad gassing.

  2nd September. Just before we left our camp last night, a lot of Details arrived & Len among them — he schemed to get away with the draft. I wish he had stopped down below for he is far safer there.

  We had to walk about 2 miles to the station or siding where we entrained for Ypres. Some style us, flying about in trains. The engine was behind the carriages & was an armoured one. The country we passed through showed the ravages of war, for practically every building about was razed to the ground by shell fire. The engine ran us slowly along & almost into Ypres. We got off, & a few shells were already flying round (they were bursting them in the town). At last off we started 2 deep & when we got into the town we found single file, for they are always dropping a few shells into her.

  By Jove it seems a shame that such a bonzer city should have been destroyed. There is not a sound building left in her & the biggest part of it is level with the ground. The beautiful Cloth Hall of which we have all read & heard about is absolutely in ruins; only a few tall spires are left standing of what was once a magnificent pile. There is one thing that is very noticeable, & that is the streets — they are hardly touched & are just as good in many places as they were before the war.

  We have men all over Ypres living in cellars & the majority have electric lights — it seems strange but true. Ypres is like a dead city for there is not a sound as you march through her, only your own echoing footsteps. Who would have thought a few years back that this Belgian town would resound to the steps of Australian soldiers marching through her streets.

  Just outside Ypres runs the Yser & the bridge over her for a wonder still stands. We crossed this & made for the firing line. Everything about here shows the signs of hard usage & there are great shell holes everywhere in the roads, fields, the railway line torn up & such like — gentle reminders that shells hurt.

  As we went along the German flares lit the whole country up & from these strings of flares we could see we were in a huge horseshoe, otherwise the Ypres Salient. It was round about the part that the Germans made their first gas attack on the Canadians & French on the 23rd April 1915. Although it was a great success in one way & killed thousands of men, it really was about the greatest blunder they have made so far in this war, for had they realised the effect the stuff would have on the men they would have concentrated a large Army behind them when they let it go, instead of the few reserves they really were able to throw against us. The result was that they gained a little ground, where if they had enough men they could have marched on Paris & nothing could have stopped them, for the gas practically wiped out all the men in front, for at that time we had no helmets of any description for gas was never counted on. Then Providence seemed to step in & for the next 4 months the wind blew towards them & gave the English & French time to perfect their helmets.

  About an hour’s march brought us to the line we were to occupy, & there were great big dugouts ready for us, some of them lit with electric light but mostly officers’.

  This morning I had a party at work building a place for our cooks to use — they are coming tonight. Bread & treacle is our tucker today, not too flash.

  The Germans are throwing a fair bit of high explosive about on the roads this morning. Most of it is that yellowish stuff, “woolly bears” we call them.

  Had a good cold bath this afternoon in a little creek that runs quite close to us. I saw some teal there this morning.

  There are some large cemeteries around this part & they appear to be well looked after by the Belgians or our authorities, I don’t know which.

  As I write this the Germans are shelling 2 of our aeroplanes for all they are worth but they don’t appear to take much notice of the shells that are bursting like white woolly fleeces all round them.

  3rd September. We had no less than 3 gas alarms last night. You could hear the horns for miles & miles, they kick up an awful row, but each one turned out to be a blank.

  There is great aerial activity this morning. Our chaps are busy shooting their anti-aircrafts at them & chasing them back over their own lines, & old Fritz is spouting up into the clouds hundreds of shells at our battleplanes.

  Tucker is still pretty crook: a slice of bread & jam for breakfast only & no tea so far.

  This is the place for rats & such wallopers; the place simply swarms with them. There was a mixed crowd out last night hunting them: 1 Staff Captain, 1 Medical Officer with a wooden leg the result of Gallipoli & a shell, some N.C.O.s & a swag of privates. They got quite a number — dug some out of their holes & got a lot more under old heaps of timber & duckboards. Each one was armed with a stick & pity help the rat once discovered.

  They buried the first Australian in their little cemetery today. He was a 2nd Batt, Sergeant Archibald by name & he was also an original. By Jove they are getting scarce now. There’s very few will go home of the original 1st Div, that is those who have any length of service to their credit.

  4th September. Had charge of a party of 15 men last night. An officer in B Coy brought 20 men up & took
charge of the lot. We went up to the firing line & just as we reached it we had to “about turn” & go back about 300 yards & lie down on the side of what had once been a road, now a succession of waterholes which was, as you may guess, the result of German bombardments at different times. Into these holes we were constantly stepping, & to make matters worse the machine guns were playing all around & over us, for the Germans well know that we use the road of a night, however luckily no one was hit. We lay low for nearly an hour till the officer found his job. At last the Colonel came along as unconcernedly as you please & put us on the right track.

  Our job turned out to be deepening an old communication trench running out towards no man’s land. It was in a terrible state for it had not been used for some time & was wet & boggy. During the night we dug up a dead man & he gave off a pretty high smell. We worked on this job till 3.30 with machine guns playing over us all the time, but they were harmless for they were shooting too high to catch any of us, though some of the trench mortars lobbed fairly close. There was fairly heavy fighting with the mortars during most of the night — the boys are never satisfied unless they are kicking up a stink. After coming home we slipped into bed & never got up till dinner time for we were all very tired.

  Today is nasty & wet & we are going out again tonight. Len is on Battalion Hqrs. He has the guard & a good job it is, especially these wet nights.

  5th September. The whole of C & B Coys were out last night & didn’t we have a time of it. It rained more or less heavily the whole time, & it was the fun of the world to see us all slipping all over the place into the shell holes nearly full of water, & sometimes on to the broad of your back in the slippy sloppy clay. We could not stop ourselves from laughing in spite of the rotten time we were having, & the night was pitch dark & the hundreds of flares that were going up only made matters worse, for when they do go out it is almost impossible to see, & the machine guns were playing all over the place.