All the others who came out when I did have now gone up the line;
I am the only one left behind!"
"June 4th.
" ... At 3.50 this afternoon I was informed that the Adjutant wished to
see me; so I went to the orderly room. He informed me that I go up the
line to-morrow morning. I go to the 2/5th Lancashire Fusiliers, 55th
Division....
"Now I am going to bed in my tent for the last time in this peaceful
place, where the only reminder of the fact that war is raging is to be
traced in the encamped city on the sand dunes above the town and the
swarms of soldiers. The sunset is fine, the air is now a little cooler
after the heat of the day, and the sea and the river calm and
refreshing."
Thus ended my long wait at Etaples. The following morning (June 5) I
rose at 6. Having had breakfast, I reported at the New Siding Station at
6.50. I was ordered to get into the train which was drawn up there, and
get out at Hazebrouck, where I would receive further orders from the
R.T.O. there. The train moved off at 7.40. As we passed Camiers we
noticed an American camp there; an American waved the Stars and Stripes
as we passed. We passed through Boulogne at 9. At 1 we reached the city
of St. Omer, where the great Earl Roberts had died at Field-Marshal
French's G.H.Q. in 1914.
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