e routine of our daily drill. By this
time I had transferred to the Machine Gun Section and became linked up
with "B" Co. with Lieutenant Medcalfe second in command. I shall not
waste space in telling you about the time we strutted about, proud of
our khaki uniforms, hugging the fond thought that we were real
soldiers, even as not a few who today, still at home, wearing the
uniform, are victims of the same absurd delusion. At last the great
day came--the day of our embarkation; we were going to say our
farewell to the land of our birth, sail away over the ocean and begin
our great adventure, taking our place among the soldiers of the King
and Empire in the greatest fight for liberty and right which the world
has ever witnessed.

Eager and keen, and with spirits high, we stepped aboard the old
"Saxonia" along with the 22nd French-Canadian regiment, and sailed on
the 20th of May, 1915, arriving in England after a pleasant but
uneventful voyage. We found the training in England far more thorough
than anything we had before experienced. We had to work, and real
hard, too, but undoubtedly the process made us better men and tended
to increase our confidence as soldiers.

Chapter Two

It is obvious that to relate to my readers the truth concerning the
Twenty-Fifth it is necessary to be somewhat critical, and I shall
endeavor to be absolutely impartial. To begin with, let it be said,
and said with perfect candor, that the credit of handling our
battalion in England which eventually helped us to go across to France
must be given to our own officers.

For the most part we greatly enjoyed our stay in England. We had a
splendid time in Folkestone, a beautiful sea-side place; and for
company we had about 50,000 Canadians in addition to some English
cavalry. After a little more than three months' training the welcome
news arrived that the next item on the program was France and the
firing line. This information was received with the utmost enthusiasm,
for the boys were getting somewhat "fed up" with training and were
anxious for a crack at the Hun. On going over, we had to leave some of
our officers behind, as they were "extra" to the establishment. Among
them were Will Cameron, Charlie MacAloney and others. They came out
later and proved their worth as fighters. Arthur Weston, who was
second in command, refused to stay behind and accompanied us to
France as quartermaster, thus setting a fine example to a good many