We dined with him
that night and had a very pleasant evening with his staff, Lt.-Col.
Hayter, Lt.-Col. McBrien, Captain Gooderham, Lt. Cartwright; the
General was very optimistic as to the final result of the war, though
he felt that it would last at least three years longer.
Our laboratory was now located in a school which was being utilized as
part of No. 2 British casualty clearing station and the first visit I
made to this hospital was to see an old school friend, Captain Cole,
the medical officer of the Princess Patricia's who was there with a
bullet through his lungs. The very first day after his arrival from
the base after an attack of pneumonia he was caught by a sniper. He
made an uninterrupted recovery and eventually returned to active
service.
The British Army in France was steadily growing larger and troops were
beginning to be shifted about to give place to new divisions coming
into the line to train. A new division is never put directly into the
firing line and given a section of front; that would be too risky. The
new division is billeted in the area back of the lines and is
gradually brought up towards the front. The infantry is put into the
reserve and front line trenches by platoons and companies and mixed
with the old-timers who know all the ropes. In this way the new comer
picks up the routine of trench work very quickly, and, when the men
have all been broken in, the division gradually takes over its
section of front.
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