THE YPRES TIMES
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on the first day; making ourselves extremely unpopular in our efforts to shoot
ahead, and at times holding up the whole convoy while our heaviest waggon was
bogged at the side of the road. We reached what we hoped was our destination at
8 p.m., but found we had four miles further to go, and when we got there we
found that we were not catered for in the billeting arrangements, so had perforce
to bed-down by the road-side, the men in a field and ourselves on the floor of an
estaminet Walton Cappel), after having pumped three wells dry in watering our
horses; this at 2.30 a.m., and with orders to be up for the march again at 5.30. But
we were not to have even three hours' sleep that night, for a mule kicked his way
into the bar shortly after we had settled down and had to be driven out and secured.
[Photo Judges, Ltd.
CHATTRI INDIAN MEMORIAL, PATCHAM, NEAR BRIGHTON.
Next morning we were all agog with excitementthe brigade to which we
were attached was to be the first to go forward, and we had the unique experience
of seeing Indian troops going from France into Belgium in English motor buses
(advertisements and all) to fight the Germans! This was on October 22nd. We our
selves followed on foot, and billeted that night in a large town Bailleutour men in
a corset factory (the model room, at our request, being withheld from their
inquisitive gaze), and the officers in a spacious chateau which had, only the week
before, housed a German General.
Next morning we were off again at six, the rest of the division moving S.E.,
out of the town, and our brigade N.E., and across the Belgian border.
On the road we learned that our Indians had already been engaged, and saw-
a couple of them wounded and in a Cavalry Field Ambulance. We reached our
destination at noon, which was a village three miles south of Ypres, and selected
a farm house on the main road in which to open our hospital Groot Viercstraat).
