ere near Paris.

_Third Phase._

After a twenty-four hours' journey, the Battalion detrained at Serzy, and
marched to a hut camp at Arcis-le-Ponsart. Maps were scarce, but it was
found that this village was somewhere east of Soissons, and that the
nearest part of the line was the famous Chemin des Dames. The men of the
Division were the first British troops to visit these parts, and the
limited knowledge of the French language which they had found sufficient
in Belgium and the North was found to be useless. Other Divisions were
expected to come South, but for a short time the 50th occupied the unique
position of being the only British troops in the Sixth French Army.

In the camp at Arcis-le-Ponsart were all the battalions of the 151st
Brigade, and the ceremony of Brigade guard mounting was revived. This
took place daily in the centre of the village with the massed buglers and
bands. On the occasion of a visit of the French Army Commander to
Divisional Headquarters, a guard was provided at very short notice by the
Battalion, and was complimented on its smart appearance and bearing. It
may be mentioned that the bugler of this guard carried the silver bugle
presented to the Battalion in 1861 by the ladies of Coundon.

It was generally understood that the tour on this sector, which was one
of the quietest in the line, was to be a period of rest and training
prior to a return to the fighting further north. Accordingly, the days at
Arcis were devoted to training, mostly in field work. The men whose
training was not up to standard, including a certain number who had
recently been transferred from the Inland Water Transport section of the
Royal Engineers, were detached for separate instruction, and eventually
went to form a Divisional School.

After about three weeks' training, during which an epidemic of influenza
visited the camp, the Battalion marched to billets in Glennes, a small
village near the Aisne. Here final preparations were made for the line,
and after a few days it moved up to relieve a battalion of the 73rd
French Infantry Regiment in the woods immediately east of the Craonne
Plateau.

The relief was very interesting. Arriving in the woods in the dark, the
men were led by French guides by bewildering tracks and trenches to the
front line. When daylight came, the support companies found themselves
amidst green trees, very different surroundings from those they had
previously known as the forward area. To