ver
seen. There was plenty of room on the plains and after we had
performed a number of evolutions we were formed in line miles long and
marched some distance, then formed for an attack upon a ridge crowned
by a number of tumuli. The earth trembled with the tread of the
battalions and the hoofs of the battery horses. Thirty thousand
Canadians in battle array is a sight never to be forgotten. Everything
passed off well, considering the difficulties with which we had to
contend. General Campbell was accompanied by Mr. Walter Long, M.P.
After luncheon he was kind enough to ride over to the 48th and
complimented us very highly on our excellent appearance. The field
training and hard work was working wonders on the men. Every day they
were becoming better soldiers. It was the same with the other
battalions. The officers were in earnest and unconsciously they were
giving to the men under their command just what they needed. In the
ranks there were a number of men born in the British Isles. Most of
the officers were of Canadian birth, and the British-born soldier gets
on magnificently with Colonial officers. Mutual respect was gradually
bringing about efficiency and discipline of a very high order.

There was still much discontent because we were not sent abroad. It
was not as bad with us as with Kitchener's Army. The question
everybody was asking of the men in khaki was "When are you going to
the Front?" It is wonderful how the sight of a uniform acts on the
people's mind. They think that just as soon as a man dons a uniform he
is ready to go to the Front. This re-acts on the men, and with
everyone asking "When are you going to the Front?" they become almost
frantic with impatience. After a soldier has been drilling a while,
however, he realizes there is still something for him to learn. Then
when he gets to the Front he discovers that it is not just knowing
his drill that made him a soldier but the experience of obeying orders
and doing the same things over and over again until he forgets drill
and does the right thing without even thinking.

People who ask soldiers when they are going to the "Front" forget that
it is not the men's fault they do not leave for the Front at once. A
man that had lost a leg and whose left arm had been shattered at the
elbow was invalided home, and he complained to me that because he was
in uniform everybody kept asking him when he was going to the Front.

In November we learned that the arch