As we sometimes had eight divisions in our area at one time, this
water control meant a good deal of work. The water carts were usually
to be found at the headquarters of the unit to which they belonged,
and we quickly discovered that the way to get the largest number of
water samples in the shortest time was to travel by the map up and
down the twisting narrow roads which intersected each other as though
following the trails of the original inhabitants.
It must be remembered that four or five miles behind the front line
every farm house and barn is in use most of the time for billeting
soldiers, and that these farm houses are infinitely more numerous than
they are in America. Little villages and towns are very frequent and
many of them bear the same name as other towns and villages a few
miles apart. Thus there are at least two Bailleuls, two Givenchys, two
Neuve Eglises and so on. In our quest of these water carts we had to
search the countryside diligently and we averaged a great many miles a
day; we soon got to know every road and almost every farm house in our
area.
When a cart was found it was necessary to get the man in charge of
it--the water detail--in order to obtain information as to the source
of supply, the amount of chlorine used, whether there had been
complaints of taste and so forth. While the information was being
obtained, officers of the unit would often come out to see what the
trouble was and would ask questions; possibly some non-coms and men
would also gather about, and the first thing we knew would be giving,
to a very interested audience, a little lecture on the dangers of
drinking untreated water; their interest would be greatly increased if
a bottle filled with the water, to which a couple of drops of solution
had been added, turned bright blue, thus showing the presence of the
free chlorine.
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