We went then to relieve the 7th Division after it had fought the rearguard action from Antwerp, and we were only just in the nick of time, for the Division had suffered very heavily. Altogether with reinforcements the 1st Division must have lost thirty thousand men in stopping the great rush for Calais. When we entered Ypres everything was normal; but when we came out of it the town was in ruins and burning furiously in several parts. At Hazebruck we rested for close on a month. By "rested" I mean away from the firing line. Of work we had plenty. Two days before leaving Ypres we were joined by a draft of six hundred from home, which had been kept behind with the Transport until we should come out of the firing line. Captain Smart, who was with this draft, took over the Temporary Commanding Officer's duties during the three-days' march to Hazebruck, where we arrived in a snowstorm, and were billeted in private houses at the rear of the railway station and running along near the line. Whilst there, we received two further large drafts from England, and we also had a lot of men sent back medically unfit on account of defective teeth, etc. Even there we were not left in peace, doing each day either route marches or brigade training. To every man new clothes and underlinen were issued; and we all had to have a bath!--an amusing affair, that took place in a rag-shop. A canvas bath had been rigged up, and each Company took it in turn to bathe, the water being fetched by the cooks in dixies. We had about four of these dixies filled with about twenty quarts of water to each bath, with some strong disinfectant put in it. About one hundred men would bathe to each bath, the last dozen or so revelling in pea-soup. Every one _had_ to go in--as at that time we all had plenty of live stock crawling over us--under the eyes of the Company Officer and two or three N.C.O.'s. Enemy aircraft was continually flying over us, and one Sunday morning an airman dropped eight bombs, which killed several civilians, mostly children, and caused sixteen casualties amongst men of my Regiment.