ade our goal, and there we
slept until early morning. Thus I passed my first night on English soil.
Two days later we landed in camp, after visiting Devizes, Lavington and
Salisbury City on the way. Laughlin wore the major's coat, and by this
device got through where otherwise we should have been pinched.

After the first two days in England it began to rain, and it kept on
raining all the time we were there. The people round about the country told
us that never before in their lives had they seen such rains, but this must
be characteristic of people the world over. In Western Canada when
strangers come and it gets really cold, we tell the same story of never
having seen the like before.

We hadn't been in camp long when they began to issue passes to us. The
native-born Englishmen were the first to get leave, and the Canadians next.
At last my turn came, but unfortunately I had to go alone. Personally, I
think the English people made too big a fuss over us. The receptions we got
at every turn of the way were stupendous; and I am certain a majority of
the men had more money than was really good for them. As one young Canadian
boy said afterward: "Why, they treated us as if we were little tin gods."

But from a military view-point, we, the boys of the First Canadian
Division, did not make such a tremendous hit with British officials. It was
not long before they even criticized us openly, and looking at it from a
distance I do not blame them. Never in their lives had they seen soldiers
like us. They had been used to the fine, well-disciplined, good-looking
English Tommy. Of course I will admit that we were good-looking all right,
but as far as discipline was concerned, we did not even know it by name.
The military authorities could not understand how it was that a major or a
captain and a private could go on leave together, eat together and in
general chum around together.

The English people, I dare say, had read a lot about the wild and woolly
West, but now in many instances they had it brought right home to
Piccadilly and the Strand. With a band of young Canadians on pass, I
assisted once in giving Nelson's Monument in Trafalgar Square the "once
over" with a monocle in my left eye. A few hours later this same crowd
commandeered a dago's hurdy-gurdy, and it was sure funny to see three
Canadian Highlanders turning this hand organ in Piccadilly Circus.

The folks, of course, took all these little pranks good-naturedly;