On August 24, the school broke up and the Officers and N.C.O.’s who were there as students departed to rejoin their various battalions and units in all parts of the Front. Our Division had moved to the northward near St. Omer during my five weeks course of instruction at Aveling. Consequently, all 2nd Divisional men were entrained at a siding near Albert and proceeded via Abbeville, Etaples, Boulogne, Calais and St. Omer to a small village called Arques about four kilometres from St. Omer, where I rejoined the battalion in billets. The whole brigade was billeted in Arques also and when I rejoined, had been there for two weeks in training. I was immediately given charge of a platoon as platoon sergeant of No. 12 platoon with Lieut. Edgington as its commander.

The battalion had now been in army reserve with the rest of the Australian Corps for over four months and consequently it was very strong in numbers, there being over 60 men to a platoon. Over four months of continual training and subjection to a strict discipline had also made the men smart and well trained in appearance so that the battalion now looked spick and span and fit for anything that was going, and I never saw it look so competent. For three weeks whilst I was with the battalion at Arques, it was the custom of the brigade to march out a distance of three kilometres to a place called the Foret-de-Marie where on the outskirts of the wood, we practised all kinds of training including wood fighting, bayonet fighting, musketry and bombing, etc. I was kept extremely busy as a platoon sergeant since I had 63 men to look after, who all had to be fed, clothed and generally looked after individually.

Every time the company fell in they had to be mustered on the parade ground, their names checked and rifles and equipment inspected, the officer mostly putting in an appearance when all the work was completed. About September 12th the whole of 2nd division was paraded with bands, transport and other branches of the services, on a large flat tract of ground just outside Arques. The Brigades were then formed up according to seniority until the whole division was ready for inspection in close columns of platoons with the transport and other details also properly formed up. After standing at ease for an hour after the parade was ready the “general” salute was played by a band and General Sir Douglas Haig and staff galloped up and took the salute as the whole division presented arms.

The Commander-in-Chief then proceeded to ride through the ranks of each Brigade in turn, bands supplying martial music during the proceedings. After inspecting the infantry, he in- spected the Transport and details. Then the senior battalion of each Brigade marched past in columns of platoons, Sir Douglas Haig taking the salute at the saluting point. When the inspection was finished, the Commander-in—Chief expressed his surprise at the fine appearance of the Australian troops and complimented us on our fine soldierly bearing on parade, and also on our fine appearance. Whilst at Arques, the moonlight nights were made hideous by the nightly air raids by the German Taubes and Gothas which sailed overhead in the moonlight, dropping their bombs on any target they considered worth while. Whilst they were engaged in their bomb dropping, our anti-aircraft batteries kept up a hot fire of shrapnel, the shells screaming overhead to burst amidst the “whirring” planes overhead with a snap and burst of light in the darkness, seldom doing any damage to the invading planes however.

These raids were not intended for the village of Arques so much as for the town of St. Omer which was a big railway centre and a rather important supply depot. The French civilians generally behaved very calmly during these air raids, and there was never any excessive fear shown as in London during such happenings. They took everything that came with a kind of stoical indifference saying “eh bien, c’est la guerre!” (Oh well, it is the war!) and just carried on until the raid was over, and then worried no more about it.