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[Page 45]
been kept at bay by anti-aircraft guns. Only one or at most two got through the ring of fire on last Monday. Enemy airships crossed the Yorkshire & Lincolnshire coasts between midnight & 3. a.m. but got no distance inland. Little material damage was done.
Friday September 28. 1917. (1152.)
This morning is cold and frosty, and there is every prospect of another nice day.
After an early breakfast we were ready to start at 8.30 which we did punctually. We slept in an old French barn along with the band. We had plenty of clean straw to sleep on.
Last night I had a walk around St. Sylvestre Cappel. It has a magnificent church & I obtained 4 Postcard views of the village but could get none of the church or L'Eglise as the French call it.
Here I bought a mirror for the small sum of 6d, which in most other French towns would 2 or 3 times as much. The price of Post cards vary. At Merck St. Sievin they were an ½d each, at St. Sylvestre Cappel 2 for 1 ½, while in most other towns they are 1d each.
From St Sylvestre Cappel we passed on through another little village called
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Terdeghem, which consists of only a few houses. Our route was through country lanes and we passed some steam Trashings plants on the way. The engines were of the portable type and were a combination of the horizontal and vertical types of boilers with the engine on top. The next town we passed was Steenvourd, a fairly large place with the usual church spire in evidence. A little further on we pulled into a paddock where the whole Battalion was already there resting. Here we had dinner and stayed all the afternoon and were provided with tents for the night. During the afternoon we had a kit inspection of the whole Battalion, including the Transports. It was the first kit inspection for the Transports since they had been in France & the first for me since I was on board the ship. Many of the shops we passed yesterday & to day had the sign displayed in large letters "Debit de Boissons".
Our camp is about a quarter of a mile away from the village of Winnazeele. The whole Battalion & H.Q.D. are together in a park.
I had a walk around the