Item 04: John Duncan McRae diary, 6 May-18 September 1917 - Page 34

[Page 34]

past her village, their patrols getting as far as Amiens, 10 miles back. Out of her tiny village 40 men have been mobilised & are now fighting; at least those that are left are fighting, for 12 of these have been killed, & two others are injured so as to be unfit for further service. One of these latter I saw in the street. His arm is taken off from the elbow. Such is the price that war demands of a quiet, secluded, beautiful little country village in the midst of a wonderful landscape.

And so one could detect in Mlle's.. character a ring of sincerity & depth, which, methought, this baptism of sorrow had brought her. And, yet, through it all, like every other Mlle.. & matron in France, she had continued at her toil, day in, day out, from morn to eve until her hands & face were tan & her chubby fingers like bundles of steel fibres. bon esprit!