A friend of mine whom I had met at the rest camp was in the next compartment to mine. He remarked to me that he did not mind the shelling so much if the civilian population were out of danger, and added that in his opinion he thought that we were quite safe. Suddenly a shell struck a tree not more than thirty yards away from us and a splinter glanced off and struck the railway train. I heard then the old familiar cry of "stretcher bearer," "stretcher bearer on the double," and an R.A.M.C. Sergeant came running over to our car. As I jumped out of my compartment, I went into the other one. There to my horror my friend was lying unconscious. Blood was flowing freely from all parts of his body, and as I helped to place him on the stretcher he passed away to the Great Beyond. In another car five N.C.O.'s were wounded from fragments of the same shell, so I could shake hands with myself on being fortunate to escape without injury. CHAPTER VI TRENCH ROUTINE The war establishment of an infantry battalion is about 1,046 men divided into four companies. There are four platoons to a company, and four sections to a platoon. The platoon is the smallest unit in the field. It is often said that this is a platoon or junior officers' war, and I believe this is quite true. I must mention something about the organisation of this compact little unit. As previously stated, a platoon consists of four sections. Taking for example an average strength of 49 O.R. (other ranks), a suitable organisation would be as follows: Platoon Headquarters: 1 Officer 1 Platoon Sergeant 1 Officer's Batman 1 Stretcher Bearer 1 Cook No. 1 Section 1 N.C.O. 9 Riflemen 3 Snipers 1 Scout No. 2 Section 1 N.C.O. 6 Rifle Grenadiers 3 Carriers No. 3 Section 1 N.C.O. 2 Scouts 8 Lewis Gunners No. 4 Section 1 N.C.O. 10 Bombers Sometimes each section may wear a different coloured cloth armlet, so that you can tell at a glance what section a man belongs to. The platoon commander has at all times to look out for his men's comfort first--is own comfort and safety being a second consideration. EQUIPMENT OF AN INFANTRY SOLDIER WHEN GOING "OVER THE TOP" 1 Steel Helmet which seems to him to weigh a ton when he is marching out of reach of shell fire, but when under shell fire, he thinks it is as light as a feather and he wishes it were much heavier and bigger. 1 Iron Rations. A small, white bag containing 3 hardtack biscuits, a tin of bully beef, sometimes a tin of mixed tea and sugar. 1 Small Box Respirator or gas mask, at the alert position. This is lying flat on his chest.