We took samples of the water and passed on to Wieltze,
intending to walk into the salient to see what "No man's Land" was
like. Men had told us that, unlike the rest of the front near the
trenches, there were no growing crops, and no birds sang in that
desolate, dreary, shell-shattered area, and we wanted to see it for
ourselves.
We were surprised and delighted to find Captain Scrimger, whom we had
left convalescing at Bulford, England, in charge of the Advanced
Dressing Station. He had just arrived that afternoon, and was in hopes
of getting his old battalion again, explaining that on account of his
illness in England he had been temporarily replaced as regimental
medical officer by Captain Boyd. We talked with him in the little
estaminet in which the dressing station was located, while the old
woman who kept the place and two peasants chatted quietly together in
a corner and drank beer. I wondered at the time whether they were
spies. Captain Scrimger walked with us up to the edge of the village
and then returned to his charge.
At the outskirts of the village we noticed a peasant planting seeds in
the little garden in front of his house. The earth had all been dug
and raked smooth by a boy and a couple of children. To our "Bon jour"
he replied, and added "Il fait bon temps n'est ce pas?" looking up at
the sun with evident satisfaction.
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