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[page 59]
115
11th INSTALMENT.
6th December, 1916.
Since last writing I have set off on a trip down to the Riviera to do some more convalescing. During the winter months the South is much used as a convalescent district, principally because the Army consider that they will get their Officers back to work quicker this way than by leaving them in the fog and damp of the North. It certainly suits Australians better as the climate is more like their own. The journey from the North is a long one, but a very interesting and pretty one. In pre war days the express train from Calais and Boulogne to Paris was considered the fastest in the World but now alas, the track has become much worn through heavy war traffic and the rollling stock has not received the attention which at one time was bestowed upon it, with the result that fast travelling is out of the question and a journey involves a considerable amount of shake and jolt.
The former rather long-winded notice on the Railway Stations warning soldiers against discussing war matters in the hearing of strangers, has given place to the following:
"There once was an owl who lived in an oak,
"He saw quite a lot but seldom spoke,
"And the less he spoke the more he heard,
"Soldiers should imitate this wise old bird."
Rather a good effort I thought especially as it is well displayed in large black lettering on white boards easily visible from the trains.
Abbeville is the first place of any size reached between Boulogne and Paris and it is here that so many of the Somme wounded were collected during the first couple of months of that offensive. Here as we pass in the train we can see the Hospital barges, ten or a dozen in number, moored to the river bank sinisterly awaiting the next push. The swollen state of the rivers and canals would, in any case prevent the running of the barges during the winter months. Barge No. 191 moored there amongst the others brings back to me my trip down from