With my regiment : $b From the Aisne to La Bassée — John Stuart Mill — John Shaqi
With my regiment : $b From the Aisne to La Bassée
John Stuart Mill · en
Our second night march was longer than the first, and we covered
eighteen miles. We appeared still to be going farther and farther away
from the enemy, but at one point, nearing the end of the march, we
heard faintly the sound of guns. They were the French guns, we were
told, so we gathered that we were somewhere behind the French lines.
A long climb down took us to a bridge over a river, guarded by a very
bored-looking French reservist who looked at us suspiciously, and was,
I felt sure, longing for the excuse for a row with somebody, just to
relieve the monotony of life. Crossing the bridge we left the main road
short of the town--to the keen disappointment of the men--and turned
up what looked like a private drive through woods. After going about a
mile and a half we came on a group of buildings which proved to be our
destination for the night. It was dark and not easy to see much, and
we accepted placidly a staff officer's information that the regiment's
billeting area lay on the right side of a small stream. "You will
find a farm--it was all I could do for you, but I expect you will all
be able to get into it," he said. Tired and footsore as we were, we
felt certain we should be able to fix ourselves up anywhere. The farm
comprised three cottages, a large building and a huge haystack with
a corrugated iron roof. We got most of the men on the hay under the
corrugated iron roof. Of course, as soon as they lay down they pulled
out cigarettes and pipes for a satisfying smoke after the long march.
This made Goyle dance with fury, and he sent me up on top of the stack
to have all the cigarettes put out. It seemed hard on the men, but he
was quite right, as they would certainly have set the stack on fire.