Item 02: John Duncan McRae diary, 11 December 1916-9 February 1917 - Page 104

[Page 104]

The Snow is very dry now & is just beginning to thaw & it is hard to walk on it especially on the roads which are very slippery.

In evening we heard a lecture by an Indian on the Wonder & Mystery of India. He was very well educated & spoke most eloquently & most passionately & closed his address with an expression of the hope that the Greater British Empire might be united with in a firm brotherhood. He closed the meeting with a passionate prayer to God to deliver us from the darkness of our present struggle. The impression he created on me was rather sublime than otherwise.

Feb. 9 Our leave of four days commenced to-day. We arose early & had dressed, breakfasted & marched to Amesbury Station (6 miles) by 9.30 A.M. Our train left at 10 & we detrained at Waterloo Station, London at 2 P.M.