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[Page 6]
Hazebrouck & Renescure
9/7/16
15 minute spells. At each halt the men are turned in their fours and marched right on to the edge of the road close to the ditch and arms are piled. The men then fall out through their rifles clear of the road. No man is allowed to fall out of the ranks for fatigue, illness or other reason without having a "chit" signed by an officer. Towards the end of the march the men were very tired and could hardly stick it out. Sawyer of No. 10 is an elderly man worn almost to a shadow and manages to keep going very well and nearly at the billets in Hazebrouck we halted for lunch for an hour the cooker had a meal of hot meat ready which was served up.
Just alongside where the arms were piled was a big caterers shop. The proprietor sent out girls with big cardboard boxes of cakes which they distributed 2 to nearly every man in the battalion as souvenirs. They also brought out a bucket of a weak wine mixed with water. Went in to thank the owner for his kindness and he seemed a jolly old chap "very pleased to have the honour" as he said. He sat down to a glass of wine and over the bottle we drank each others healths and had a little lunch.
Went through to the back and Mademoiselle came forward most obligingly to solve any difficulties. "Cabinet monsieur? Voila m'sieur!" There is no false modesty about these good sensible girls. The treatment we received from these people was remarkable seeing the thousands of troops that must be passing through regularly enough to render the sight of a column of soldiers no novelty. They could not do enough for us and the little children made friends with the men and sat on their knees. Perhaps we are the first Australians hereabouts. We passed through Renescure about 5 p.m. and got