The battalion was in rest billets at St. Amand; and I was posted as second in command to B Company.
The officers of B Company were just about to begin their midday meal when I put in an appearance at the company mess.
Captain George commanded the company. He was a splendid type of the fighting man of the present day—young, active, and clear-cut, boyish, yet serious. Captain George was made of the right stuff, and we became chums on the spot.
The other officers of the company were Second Lieutenant Farman, who had just received his commission in the field, Second Lieutenant Chislehirst, and Second Lieutenant Day.
They were all splendid fellows, the type you meet and take to at once; all as keen as ginger when there is serious work to be done; and when work is over are as light-hearted as schoolboys.
The mess consisted of a dilapidated kitchen, with a stone floor, and ventilated by the simple method of broken windows and a door removed from the hinges.
In those northern farmhouses of France it is purely a matter of opinion as to whether ventilation is really an advantage; for from the yard in front of the house the odour from the refuse and manure of the farm, piled up in a heap outside your window, becomes very acute when the wind is in the wrong direction, as it usually is.