I reported to the commanding officer of the battalion who assigned me to No. 2 Platoon of "A" Company. It was raining as usual—it seems to rain in the northern part of France every day from the middle of October until the early part of April. My company commander brought me over to my billet, which was an old-fashioned, low roof stone house. It was occupied by an old woman and two of her daughters who kept an estaminet for the benefit of the troops, and incidentally a source of income for themselves.
We entered the doorway and passed along a passageway to the rear of the house leading to a room about ten feet square. Until the morning of April 8th six officers slept in this small place. It also served the purpose of officers' company mess room, and some of the junior officers of "B" Company joined our mess on account of lack of accommodations, as there were only a few available houses in Masnil Bouche.
The room had one double bed, which the company commander and second in command of "A" Company occupied. The junior officers slept on the stone floor. Our kitchen was outside in what might have once been a chicken coop, adjoining the house, not many yards from the window of our room, through which our meals were served. The kitchen could not even boast of a stone floor—underfoot was nothing but MUD, MUD, MUD!
I was very glad to meet my brother officers as they came in for dinner that night. It is usual in France to have individual company mess, but as previously mentioned, being cramped for accommodation, "B" Company's junior officers had joined our mess.
We were a very merry group, everyone in excellent spirits, which reminded me of a little song that we all hum in France: "A Merry Life, but a Short One." Two of the very officers who dined at our mess were killed at Vimy Ridge on April 9th.
The following morning at 9 A.M., "A" Company was drawn up in close column of platoons, in fighting order, ready for company inspection. It was raining slightly and very muddy underfoot. The men were equipped as they would be to go "over the top."
Only three platoons were drawn up for company inspection. It is customary for one platoon per company, each in its turn, to remain out of the line. These platoons with their officers form the nucleus of a new battalion in case the battalion meets with heavy losses while in the trenches. They may also be called upon to reinforce their respective companies in the line.
After each platoon had been carefully inspected by their respective platoon commanders, and then by the company commander, we were marched off to our training ground, a distance of one kilometre, where there was an extensive stretch of open ground.
When we reached our training area, we saw hundreds of yards of white tapes two inches wide, stretched out before us. These tapes represented to us the outline of the German trenches which we were to attack and capture on Vimy Ridge. They lay on the ground in exactly the same position that we would later find the German trenches.