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- with lots of benches, and these are fully occupied every night.
Seven of us had our first real meal since we left home in Folkstcne last Monday night. It was v/et and cold so we wandered into a restaurant to get out of the rain. After the waitress had informed us that she had only three muttons and ten porks left we were finally served. For dessert five of us managed to get some "apple pie", but if, as Hank nut it "we hadn’t eaten the hide as well as the stuffing we would have been out of luck". Harold ordered fruit salad and custard, and was presented with stewed dried apricots and milk. Some joint, never again for me. Since then we have found a nice little place in Sandgate, where you can get ham and eggs, fried potatoes, a not of tea, toast and all kinds of fine pastries for about two' shillings. Have’been there twice now,and may go again tonight.
Woke up on Wednesday morning after a terrific gale all day Tuesday, to find snow on the ground. It didn’t last very long though, for the sun came out bright and warm. All of the midland counties, some of which we passed through on the way down were visited with the worst storm in fifty years. At Crewe, the snow drifted in places twenty feet deep. But as I said, it didn’t stay long here. Had a field day on Wednesday, Full marching order, as we were when we left Victoria, and a hot sun at that.
Went about four miles, had our noon day meal there and then marched back again. All of us were sunburned Mien we got back. My feet felt rather sore so walked across the street and had a foot bath in the English Channel,
On Thursday we did our, first actual work in connection with the war. Twenty five men, including all the Y, boys marched to Shomcliffe to unload an ambulance train just arrived from France. There were fifty three cases cm board, of whom only eight could walk, the majority having to be carried off on stretchers. The ones who could walk really looked worse than the others. With their dirty torn uniforms, and atorful expressions on their faces, they certainly were a pitiful sight. Some hobbling along by themselves, one helped along by two of his mates. We carried the others from the train to the ambulances, each of which have room for four patients. Before loading them into the ambulances, we laid themi on thefloor of the waiting room, and the ladies of the town gave them coooa or tea to drink, alsot cigarettes. It certain- ly cheered them up too. The war looked mighty close to us just at that time.
Now for, to me, the best news of all. But I am afraid it won’t appeal to you in the same way. The 0.0. of this school is so pleased with this draft that we are to form the base company of the 11th Field Ambulance, and are to go into training as a field ambulance at once. Sixty men from the two or three hundred ahead of us are to be drafted into our bunch, and from what I can hear, they have to have a mighty good record before they are selected, Speaks pretty high for the B.C.boys, doesn’t it? So I
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