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 607
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[Page 607]
the men a splendid send off at every house people waved & cheered & those lined along the Route wanted to know if it was good to be "going home".
During the march an incident occurred which caused much laughter amongst them men who saw it happen. On the line of Route standing outside the garden gate of their Cottage & thus forming part of the waving cheering populace was evidently a mother & her four daughters. One of these girls was carrying a small pet dog with a ribbon tied round its neck, but in order to wave more frantically the girl placed the dog on the ground. Immediately upon gaining its freedom the little dog rushed along with the men barking delightedly & almost at once quite a number of the men started whistling to entice the dog close.
This caused the owners to try & recover the dog but before they could get near it one of the men without missing a step in the march very quickly "whipped" the dog off the ground & placed it under his coat, so quick was it done that men even quite close to the man had not seen his act, but he had not been too quick for the owners who in following up had been getting first very anxious & then even frightened but when the dog suddenly disappeared they uttered a woeful exclamation & all stood still, all but the Mother quick as the man had been she had "spotted" him, ran after him as he marched, "snatched" the dog from under his coat, then giving him quite a smart "cuff" with her hand, on the back of his head excitedly exclaimed as she recovered her breath Oh! You devil!!
A roar of laughter from nearly the whole of the men accompanied the salutation, together with cries Well done! Mother!! Good old Mother!! That will "learn" him!!
The man "slapped" did not move