ABSTRACT
YES, I MAY SAY THAT I WAS PROUD OF MY COMPANY the morning we again set out for the Pardo. They were supposed to report at 9 o’clock, and when the lorries were brought up at half-past nine the company was complete but for two men. In October, when our battalion had to move forward, buglers were careering the streets and sounding the assembly in front of every café. If the time fixed was 9 o’clock in the morning, one was only too glad to set out with about two-thirds of the company at about 11 o’clock at night. The others would come dribbling in a day or two later. This state of things has long ceased to be, although after long leave it is still usual for a company to be short of some twenty or thirty men on the first day on a number of pretexts. It goes without saying that the knowledge that all are present raises the morale of the company.
