The Cornhill Magazine (vol. XLII, no. 250 new series, April 1917)Various
History
The Cornhill Magazine (vol. XLII, no. 250 new series, April 1917)
Various
England -- Periodicals; English literature -- Periodicals; Short stories, English -- Periodicals
From the military landing officer’s placard, telling you where to report
and what to do, which faces you on the quay before landing in France, to
the stencilled board informing you that the recently captured portion of
German trench you are standing in was called ‘Stellung 19,’ the ‘Front’
is plastered with notices and signs of every description.
Some are bald official orders of little interest, others are full of
meaning and sometimes bring the grim realities of war home to one more
than any other feature of the landscape, and yet others—the unofficial
ones—are full of humour and eloquent of the cheerful spirit which comes
uppermost in the British soldier, be his surroundings ever so miserable.
The most conspicuous ones are those that are intended to be seen by the
swiftly passing motor-car—SPEED LIMIT X MILES PER HOUR,—GO SLOW PAST THE
COLUMN,—AERODROME, DEAD SLOW TO AVOID DUST SPOILING THE ENGINES.
It is regrettable that sufficient notice is not always taken of such
injunctions and those who are affected often have recourse to other
tactics. Some are frankly threatening: DRIVERS’ NUMBERS TAKEN AND
REPORTED TO THE A.P.M. Others appeal to our better feelings—the notice
is put in the form of a request, and a large THANK YOU at the end of
the restricted stretch shames the scorcher who has kept his foot on the
throttle. Others again resort to subterfuges, such as MIND THE BUMP!
There is, of course, no bump, but by the time the driver has found this
out and got up his speed again the column of lorries, or whatever it may
have been by the roadside, is passed.
In addition to the military road restrictions there are still, of course,
the curious mystic signs of the French Auto Club—the grid showing the
level crossing gate, the cross for the cross roads and the V or Z for
single or double corners.
In order not to make things too easy for the Hun agent most units do not
label their billets or transport with their full title, but adopt certain
devices and signs which are allotted to them. These assume the form of
flowers, animals, or geometric designs of every conceivable pattern and
colour. They are to be seen everywhere—few people know what they mean and
the spy who would sort out the signs and the units they represent has an
unenviable job.
In some cases, however, where secrecy does not appear to be necessary,
appropriate emblems are used. I remember one day my car broke down
opposite a column of lorries belonging to an Australian unit. On the side
and back of each of these vehicles was painted a white kangaroo.
My Scottish Sergeant-Major, though a fervent admirer of the gallant
colonials, could not resist a gentle leg-pull. With an air of ignorant
innocence he went up to a group of men and asked them what on earth they
painted pictures of mice all over their lorries for! He affected to be
immensely interested in their explanation.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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