The private yacht of Belgium's Queen Elizabeth had been pressed into service as a cross-channel ferry and in this royal craft, under escort of destroyers, aeroplanes, and dirigibles, we crossed to Calais in an hour and thirty-five minutes. The crossing was enlivened when two riflemen of the crew took to firing at mines that endangered our passage. Picardy and Flanders--April 20th to June 10th [Illustration: © _Underwood & Underwood_ _"Let's Go!" Washington's Birthday, 1918_] Once in Calais we found that we divided honors with Company C of our regiment in being the first two National Army companies to land in France, having debarked on French soil April 20, 1918. That night we experienced our first real touch of war. Sheltered in tents in British Rest Camp No. 6, we received a call of welcome from a squadron of Jerry aeroplanes. A truly thrilling reception it was, with the thunder of Hun bombs alternating with the "ping!" of British anti-aircraft guns,--and thru it all the "pat-pat" of a multitude of machine guns. But best of all, there were no casualties. Next day we spent in adding to our equipment gas masks and trench helmets and we exchanged our American Enfield rifles for British Enfields,--lighter, shorter pieces having a magazine capacity of ten rounds of ammunition. April 23d introduced us to the famous little "_40 hommes--8 chevaux_" box-cars of the French. A three-hour journey in these brought us to the British base at Audruicq. Our first real hike started from here and ended at Zouafques, a little village in Picardy. We occupied some of the best sheep-pens, cattle stalls, and hen roosts in town and during our five-week stay we became really comfortable inhabitants. Zouafques proved to be a sort of military high school, where we polished our elementary knowledge of tactics. Our "noncoms" were sent to specialized schools in scouting, sniping, musketry, automatic rifles, grenades, and infantry tactics. The instruction, as well as the food and equipment, was distinctly British. Five weeks of this work and we took our next step trench-ward. Hiking from Zouafques at 1.30 A.M., May 13th, we entrained _a la chevaux_ at Audruicq. A day's journey _via_ Calais, Boulogne, Etaps, and Doullens brought us to Mondrecourt, in Flanders. Then an almost heartbreaking hike thru Pas to the war-worn village of Couin. Our assimilation by the British forces became most complete when we found ourselves brigaded with a battalion of the Lancashire Fusileers of the 125th British Brigade. Our position was in reserve of the British lines north of Amiens and southwest of Arras. Here another five weeks of training gave us the right to work alone. Once again we traded rifles, retrieving our American guns, and on June 6th we started on a three-day march. Thru Gézaincourt, Bernaville, Ailly le-Haut Clocher, to Pont Remy, where we entrained. Vosges and the Lorraine--June 11th to August 7th