Item 02: John Duncan McRae diary, 11 December 1916-9 February 1917 - Page 86

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[Page 86]

hills & dales, past country farms & homesteads towards Salisbury Plains. There we remained till 8 in the evening. Although the air was bitingly cold, & ice lay snow lay on every land we were a happy little party. Eight of us were in our box carriage & the fact that we were all strangers in a strange land united us all & as the hours wore on, and we shared our bully-beef & biscuits, we grew more & more contented with our lot & entered deeper & deeper into one another's confidence.

At three in the afternoon we were warmed up through the thoughtfulness of some kind people. We all got out of the train at Exeter & had our water-bottles filled for us with hot tea & each soldier received a bag in which was a fine currant bun & a note; one of which is enclosed.

At 8 o'clock we left our train at Amesbury & then marched six miles to the A.I.F. Training Camp which is situated at "Rollestone", a part of the celebrated Salisbury Plains, about 15 miles from the city of Salisbury itself. We arrived there at about 10.30

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