June 28, 1916
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Slept up on deck for the last night being called up at 2.15 a.m. We had breakfast, our last meal on the ship, all being on the wharf by 5 a.m. the ship returning immediately to Alexandria. The local residents all had the gippy sayings off by heart, such as Sayeda, eggs-a-cooked, etc., and greeted us with them with great glee. Bread, buns, biscuits, oranges and such thing were on sale by women and boys.
We entrained, that is the whole shipment of about 1,500 in one train of 39 carriages, the carriages being small ‘tho comfortable. The sergeants were fortunate in having a second class compartment and only two in each, which allowed us sleeping room. Wet weather greeted our arrival and we wended our way through mud for a short distance. Our route lay along a section of the coast, the line passing over several viaducts and through long tunnels, splendid views greeting us everywhere.
It was good to see homes again with their gardens attached and youngsters playing in them. Tile works were fairly common and practically all houses had tile roofs throughout the country, they evidently being very cheap. Thatched roofs did not appear until we were well past Paris. Our first stop was at Orange where we had tea made for us and so had a quick meal, guards being put out to keep the men from slipping off. After leaving Orange we came to lovely country along the valley of the Rhone. Right up to Paris it was a veritable garden all the way.
Harvesting was in full swing and appeared to be well in hand. Women, girls and children were employed to a great extent, the men being mostly old, altho’ a good proportion of soldiers were employed. The welcome given us by the residents was of the quiet kind until we neared Paris when the people were more demonstrative. Everywhere was a general air of peacefulness only the soldiers’ uniforms and trucks marked War Material Urgent was to be seen as a reminder.
We passed several troop trains, most of the men wearing shrapnel helmets and they as a rule gave us a good cheer. The roads we saw were good being made of limestone judging by their white colour, but were very narrow. Practically all had trees planted alongside, the roads being a series of long avenues, meeting overhead, the effect being splendid. The country carts were peculiar being exceptionally long, like a lorry on two wheels, being drawn by several horses, according to the road. The horses appeared to be of good quality.
At one station we pulled up to allow an express to pass and seized the opportunity to buy some bread, sandwiches, oranges, etc. Our rations were issued once a day being biscuits, bully beef, butter and jam and cheese, tea being made at certain stops. At night we slept two to a seat and one on the floor, but owing to some insane idea we were pulled out at 2 a.rn. the first night for tea.