Primary tabs
Transcription
[Page 79]
Friday March 24th
in the train: issued at 1am with coffee & went well: the country is very pretty & very little land goes to waste: the mountains are cultivated right to the top: no dividing fences but hedges are along the road & beginning to bud: passed through Lyons which is a big city: the train is a "crawler" & we were side tracked here & there to pass the mails: the engines are a picture & simply fly along & they have up to 14 carriages on: the goods rolling stock do not come up to ours & have no air but the passenger are very good: our rations due for tea were not issued till about 7pm: issued with another coffee: snooze after tea
Saturday March 25th
in the train: wet day: early morning was a very heavy frost & plenty of ice but later turned out wet: towards dusk we branched onto another line: this was our nearest approach to Paris (about 15 miles) we had a distant view of Eiffel tower passed a big flying shed & seen a big airship also a lot of aeroplanes: very cold in night: chats plentiful Bill Fahey had to through his shirt away. passed a good few hospital trains during the trip also blast furnaces
Sunday March 26th
still in the train: wet & cold: passed a sunken ship off Boulognes also passed Calais: plenty of Tommies about also seen some French soldiers ready for the fray & they looked well in their blue uniforms & steel helmets: tried a helmet on: seen a hole at one station caused by a Zeppelin bomb: passed more air-ships & aeroplane sheds: arrived at Thiennes at 11.30 am & left the train making a sixty seven hour's trip: it was very slow at times & very cold: the scenery everywhere was good especially on the mountains: there was plenty of water in the creeks & canals which run everywhere: existed on bully beef, biscuits, jam & butter: biscuits very hard: marched onto the road &