At first each individual wore the dress of his original unit, so that there was a strange collection of uniforms at Bermicourt--Scottish bonnets and kilts, riding breeches, and bandoleers, every conceivable dress, even to naval blue. [15]“The spirit of adventure called us to the Tanks ... and so the call for volunteers found us ready, and when the word of acceptance came, our hearts beat quickly and our hopes were high ... some of us were selected because we were machine-gunners, and others because we were motor drivers. But there were many of us to whom the machine-gun and the motor were incomprehensible things. But in the end we did not find this lack of knowledge any handicap; for the Army authorities, who were wiser than we, knew that to men of average intelligence these things were easy to learn; and to our very great amazement we found that a week was all that was necessary thoroughly to master any machine-gun ... and that it only took us two weeks to grasp the principle of the internal combustion engine and the mechanism of the Tank.” At Bermicourt and at Wool the deficiencies of the old Thetford training were realised. The experience gained on the Somme had been assimilated. Instructors now knew exactly what they must teach, and this time the spirit of the course of training was definite and businesslike. The whole scheme was most carefully planned to ensure a proper balance, and the right amount of time was allotted to the different courses. At first the work consisted chiefly in the training of more instructors, for the expansion of the Corps was to be rapid. The “settings” of all the courses showed great advances on the Thetford model, for at last the practice grounds could be made to resemble the actuality. There were old trenches and shell and mine craters, and the men were at once taken over bad ground, until the conditions of this curious progress became things of custom.