France
Sat Mar 25th.
We arrived at Marseilles this morning about 10am and disembarked at 1:30pm and boarded the train at Marseilles Railway Stn at 3pm.
Sun Mar 26th.
Still travelling in the train and passing through some glorious scenery. There are plenty of fruit trees here and they are just coming out in bloom and the fields are all green, making it look very pretty all along the line.
Mon Mar 27th.
We are still passing through some pretty places, and we get a great reception all along the line by the French people who, cheer and wave as we pass. The train is travelling slow, so we have a good chance to see the country.
Tues Mar 28th.
Arrived at a wayside station in the north east of France, named Thiennes about 7am after about 63 hours in the train and marched about 1 ½ miles to a village named Boeseghem, where we are billeted. A few of us went into a town named Aire about 2 miles from here and had a good day.
Wed Mar 29th.
It is very cold here in the morning as a heavy frost lies on the ground. We are about 20 miles behind the firing line and occasionally we can hear the big guns being fired.
Fri Mar 3rd.
We have been out today to have a demonstration with poisonous gas. First, we marched round where they had some gas, which makes the eyes water and is called weeping gas. Then we had to pass through a trench with our respirators on, where there was a strong flow of gas.
Mon Apr 3rd.
There is no paddocks here handy for us to drill, so we go out each day on the road for a route march and sometimes stop for a while on the side of the road to do a bit of bayonet or rifle drill.