ON THE MARCH.

Press, Volume LI, Issue 15173, 11 January 1915, Page 4

ON THE MARCH.

[Theso extracts ar* *from tbe letter ot » London professioni-l man w_it> vesaattsewd M an interpreter and is aitirberi to tbe colon.l of a regi-Mnt now at tbo front. Tbey detail the steps ia tbo .egiment's jouraey froxa its base to the front as seen by a man witji no previous militay cspericj-ce from a. favoured viewpoint.]

We have now come into the zone of actual operations. A oouplo of days ago we wero marching to the village in which our new billets had been lixed. Tho billeting party had gone ahead on bicycles to prepare the accommodation for us. The column is followed by its machine-gun mules and their Indian drivers, then by its transport waggons, carrying tho officers' valises, tho men's blankets, the rations, and ammunition. Tents have been long left behind. "Where we cannot billet wo shall havo to bivouac. Troops havo pasted us on tbo road, French and English. Wo hail any officers of our acquaintance, greedy for passing -scraps of information. There is a weary line meeting us of refugees with bundles. There are men and women of all ages, but the la-ting picturo is of Tory old grandfathers and very young grandchildren. The fathers aro at the front.

As we pass villages our men break into as much of tho "Marseillaise" * as they havo been ablo to lca.ru, half tho t-Une and nono of tho word.-:. This always brings us shouts o. "Vivo l'Angleterio" and often gifts of apples, ami other material expressions of goodwill, which aro eagerly grasped as wo * go along. We havo had two visius during the morning from "German Taube monoplanes—easily recognised by their bentback wings and swallow-like tails —followed each timo by an English biplane which has caused thorn to reheat hastily in tho direction in which wo aro marching. Tho boom of tho big gungets nearer, and as the evening darkens their flash cuts into the sky liko distant lightning. A shout passes up tho column, ''To the right of tho road," and a. general and his staff 'canter by, or eiso a couple- of motors dash past. "We have arrived at our village. Tho billeting party meets us, and tho companies ono after another move off to tho barns whero they are billeted. Tho men tako off their equipment—it- is ,- heavy load to carry fifteen miles—and make themselves comfortable in the straw. When the carts come up they will draw their rations of '"bully beef and bread and jam and bacon and tea (tobacco once a week and rum occasionally) , th© company cooks wiil pile up the large "dixies" or cauldrons, and fires will bo glowing at many point's in the evening light making tho tea. The waggons will bo drawn up in a field, and tho waggon horses and officersponies will be picketed under trees — except for such few as can bo given accommodation in the farmers' stables.

Next day's march gives us sadder aud clearer evidence that we aro at war. No eggs or butter to be found anywhere.

"The Germans have taken everything, monsieur. Yes, last week they were here. -Monsieur, toll us, will the road bo safo to ?" Wo pass through a village. Two or threo houses burnt to the ground. Largo holes in tbo walls of others "as though a giant's fist had been pushed into them. Towards afternoon we reach a more inhabited zone. We are approaching our next village. The guns are quito close to v«. It is our own artillery which is firiug at the*, enemy from behind a wood. A soldier passes us at the 'double, wheeling in front of him something which looks like half a perambulator. Ho is laying the field telephone. We reach our village, and are thinking of laying ourselves out for tho night, when suddenly there is a message for the commanding officer: "The battalion will move forward it onco, to relieve the "Regiment in tho trenches." Tho CO. sounds a whistle. "Fall in,"; "Fall-in," "Fall iv," is heard at various points of tho orchard. Pails and cooking pots are left where they are. There is a scurry here and there of the men. getting on their coats and their equipment. But it is all quiet and, serious—a sort of earnest murmur over the field. Tho transport officer comes up for his orders, j All waggons will be left behind. Only ono cart with a blanket to each man, the ammunition cart, and the medical I cart. "Pass the word for tho ser- j geant-tnajor." Orders are given for ioading ammunition and for bringing up ammunition to-morrow. The quartermaster gets his instructions for tomorrow's rations aud how" and where he shall bring them. "Officers commanding companies, please I"—and soon a little group is formed in the falling light, with tho men in the background getting into line, adjusting their packs, and breaking: the silence with an | occasional^''click, click" of their testing the working of their magazine rifles. The little group is quite still around j the colonel and listening to his directions. There is the second in command, the medical officer, th» machindgun officer, the four officers commanding companies, and. of course, tho adjutant. Their close attitude of attention accentuates the general air of tightening muscles and nerves that there is over all. It is darker, and we can hardly see the rows of men now. The group breaks up. Smaller groups are formed of the conipanv officers giving the necessary order- to the platoon commanders, and these in turn become tho centres'of other groups of the men. pressed closely round them. The horses are brought up. The men aro in line again. There is another whistle. "Slope arms. Form fours. Left, quick march." The first company files out of tho gate. Tho battalion has started.

it is dark now. and we ar© marching along tbe road, as quietly as possible, and no lights must be shown. After some time the head of tho'column is halted. We have got ahead of tho others in tho darK. and we must wait to catch *up. On our right tho flash and boom of the guns go on, and tho crackle of rifles. Over there is the glow of a burning farm. A little further we nearly fall into a great hole mado in the road by a -hell. •'•Pass tbe word Hack. "Mind that holo." Now nearly every house has been hit and the road becomes difficult. But' the engineers havo been before us,, and lines of white stone- and torn-down shutters mark the safe passage bet-wean tho chasms. It is raining again—pouring—and tho water trickles down tbo back of our necks and seems to lie in lakes on our knees. Look there on the left. Those are last week's trenches. Under the* stormy sky one can just see dark openings in the ground, about two feet wido at the top.

At last a halt is railed. Wo must wait here till just before dawn. Perhaps we ran take shelter in that large empty farm there. The colonel and the adjutant go to see. Yes; it will take the whole battalion, packed close. Hut no room for anyone to lie down. The "battalion is marched in. It is a large, well-built farm, with a great barn and several sheds around its courtyard. Two companies take possession of tbo barn. They aro packed close by the light of electric torches occasionally flashed. It is all dark again, but around one is the whispering murmur of four hundred men—one of tho most -weirdly exciting sensations of this <**_:- citing experience. Other companies are packed into outhouses, the lofte, the dairy, the living-rooms of the house. I find a corner in th© cowshed, and nestle up against a friendly cow. So wo wait four hours, wet through, and somo of us snatch a littlo sleep. All of us are cheerful, and thero is no lack of humour—which makes up in goodwill what it lacks in refinement.

An hour and a half before dawn a message comos that we shall not be. wanted to-night after all. and we march back home again. But cur turn will C-.ID.C_.