Brewster 'A Glimpse of War through a Private's Eyes', a retrospective account of experiences in World War I, 1915-1917 / John James Brewster - Page 312
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[Page 312]
along a main road, at first it was very irritating & annoying to become splashed with liquid mud by the motor waggons & mule teams, but in a very short time, as this was inevitable, no notice was taken of it.
Having in charge a young subaltern who was on his "first trip", this march was by no means hard, for upon every suggestion from the men that they were getting tired & the packs were feeling heavy, the officer always willingly consented to stop & rest a while. The first stop came as a great surprise for in the experience of most of the men, this willingness to consider them was quite the reverse. In consequence, although "only a new chum one star artist", this officer was at once voted "a real good sort" & all complaints & grumbling stopped, the men now knowing they only had to walk a reasonable distance when they could look for another stop
Afterwards when any one started to growl, they were always over ruled till a fair distance was made when a rest would be called. In consequence it was wonderful to see how "chummy" most of the men became with the officer. Instead of growling & complaining nearly every man had time to "chip" & "chaff" "all & sundry" as they passed along.
A main supply road is continually full of traffic, motor & horse & mule waggons, Guns, & bodies of men coming & going the whole time. When men are suffering from the strain of a long march without rest, they become sullen & dull, but on this occasion they were just the reverse, bright cheerful & chirpy. Every now & then there would be a general burst of laughter from an apt or witty remark given or received & even heartier "bursts" when some would-be-wit's joke fell flat. It is surprising how many men seem very anxious to emulate any terse, witty, original joke & amongst Australians certainly no amount of failure seems to deter them from making another try.