II
FIRST DAYS OF TRAINING[ToC]
We were at a rest camp on the Somme when the chit first came round regarding the joining of the H.B.M.G.C. The Colonel came up to us one day with some papers in his hand.
"Does anybody want to join this?" he asked.
We all crowded around to find out what "this" might be.
"Tanks!" some one cried. Some were facetious; others indifferent; a few mildly interested. But no one seemed very keen about it, especially as the tanks in those days had a reputation for rather heavy casualties. Only Talbot, remembering the derelict and the interest she had inspired, said, with a laugh,—
"I rather think I'll put my name down, sir. Nothing will come of it, but one might just as well try." And taking one of the papers he filled it in, while the others stood around making all the remarks appropriate to such an occasion.
Two or three weeks went by and Talbot had forgotten all about it, in the more absorbing events which crowded months into days on the Somme.