Primary tabs
Transcription
[Page 10]
Calais, Boulogne, Etaples
11/7/16
The surrounding country is wind swept and a salt tang is in the air. We skirted the town which is a large place. A peculiarly shaped spire caught the eye. It was foursided and appeared to rest on a squat base. The line swings round with just an occasional glimpse of the Channel passing through open farm land. From one spot a very fine view of the whole country including Calais is obtained. The roads are white chalk and later we passed big quarries. The country was open right up to Boulogne which is a fine city with a crowded harbour. Our train skirted the town, soldiers seem to be running everything. Part of the place appears very old. From here to Etaples the country is sandy & there are big camps full of troops training. There are also plenty of hospitals. Some ambulance trains full of wounded were in.
Very poor and uninteresting country from here on to Abbeville, low marshy peaty country until the Somme is met. Here a lovely region commences the trees are thick and line the banks opening now and then to disclose some neat chateau. At Abbeville we only spent a few minutes and then continued along the basin of the Somme to Amiens. The country round here must be some of the pick of France. We passed through the city and went right out to a siding at Longerau where we detrained. Some of the land is very marshy but intensely cultivated like market gardens most of the work being done by women. They get from plot to plot in peculiar gondola shaped boats like sampans propelled with a pole. An old chap looked very comical sitting in one in the waterway between two garden plots patiently fishing. The A.A.G. met us and we found to our dismay that we had to march 12 miles back to a place called Breilly – a village we passed in the train. They could easily have dropped us there but advanced as a reason that there were no facilities for unloading the