Lewis war diary, August 1917-March 1919 / James Ray Lewis - Page 9
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[Page 9]
his wife was nurse in Tiflis capital of Causcasia in faraway Russia.
Those were happy days @ the showground. One day a march around Centennial Park and a camp under the she oaks another day a lecture. On main gate guard, I got roared on for stopping an officer in mistake for Sergeant major and sleeping in the tent when the C.O. made his rounds at night. I was some green recruit then.
Chapter II "Liverpool"
But its a long lane that has no turning, and at last we were drafted, and sent off to Liverpool camp after two good weeks @ the showground.
Some more issues of clothing here & more scrambling for beds & lockers. The old military motto, "Get in for your cut", is a very good one or you'll soon be in the cold.
Fresh faces here & fresh friends to make. A good few seem to be in this camp on account of the recent strike.
We commence to train more earnestly here. To a civilian soldier, military training seems little short of a pantomime, in which he has to suffer most of the burlesque. In the early morning, they remind him of long lines of geese or something, as they waddle out, not too precisely to the parade