Item 15: Archie Barwick diary, 1 October-14 December 1918 - Page 68
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[Page 68]
the Tommies disgust call them "Woodbines" & don't they bite. Some of the boys call them "Retreats" in honor of the much talked of Mons retreat which the Tommies got their medal for at the beginning of the war & our chaps have made the name of "Retreats" pretty widely known throughout the Army, so that if anyone asked for a packet of Retreats they would give him "Woodbines". Theres no love lost I can tell you between the English & Colonials. The "Aussies" especially our chaps will never forget the March & April stunts when so many Tommies got for their lives, & I myself can testify to that for I saw enough to satisfy myself round Hazebrouck when we were rushed back from the Somme, but I am wandering from the funeral. At last the firing party all Tommies came past & they were subjected to a running fire of remarks & advice about the slopes of their rifles & etc. We fell in at the rear of them & done the slow march