General Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien I had often heard of and he impressed me more than any officer I had hitherto met. Above medium height, broad-shouldered, with head set square on his shoulders, he seemed the living embodiment of resolution and force. His manner was kind and courteous.
He reminded me that our regiment had sent a detachment to England to the manoeuvres, some years previous, and that he had had the pleasure of meeting some of the officers.
He complimented me upon the fine appearance of the battalion and passed on.
Another officer shook hands. It was Prince Arthur of Connaught.
"Good luck to you, Colonel, and your fine regiment."
Then another officer stopped and shook hands. It was Lord Brooke. He had commanded the Canadian forces at Petawawa the year before when we were there. "I expect to get a command in the Canadians shortly," he informed me. He did. He got a Brigade in the Second Division.
In a few minutes the review was over and we marched back to our billets in Caestre.
Two days before the battalion had marched out of Hazebrouck hospital, leaving a picquet behind to clean up and bring along any stragglers. Thank goodness we were not bothered with many of them, and if it had not been for the bad weather at Salisbury Plains, which accounted for nearly seventy-five good men in the hospitals, we would have had very few weaklings.
We took the main road which turns north from Hazebrouck to Caestre. We were going into billets in the war zone. The place where we were to be billeted was just back of the centre of the line held by the British. East, slightly north, was the famous town of Ypres, due east twelve miles was Armentieres, southwest seventeen miles was La Bassee, south was Bethune, fifteen miles away. East twenty miles, or about as far as Port Credit from Toronto, was the famous fortress of Lille held by the Germans. We were in old French Flanders.
The farmers were ploughing and working in the fields as we marched along the road. The children ran out to look at us. They were all fair and flaxenhaired. It was as peaceful as a Sunday at home, but we were reminded of the war by the trenches running through the fields. The Germans had been here, but left on the big drive from the Marne. The road was a model, made of large stones set about 8×16 inches square and of granite hardness.