RAYMOND AT THE FRONT
I SHALL now quote extracts from letters which Raymond wrote to members of his family during the time he was serving in Flanders, in order to make him better known to the reader; but in this edition I shall select only a few. A short note made by me the day after he first started for the Front may serve as a sufficient statement of fact:
Mariemont, Edgbaston,
March 16, 1915
Raymond was recently transferred back from Edinburgh to Great Crosby near Liverpool; and once more began life in tents or temporary sheds.
Yesterday morning, Monday the 15th March, one of the subalterns was ordered to the Front; he went to a doctor, who refused to pass him, owing to some temporary indisposition. Raymond was then asked if he was fit: he replied, Perfectly. So at 10 a.m. he was told to start for France that night. Accordingly he packed up; and at 3.0 we at Mariemont received a telegram from him asking to be met at 5 p.m., and saying he could spend six hours at home.
His mother unfortunately was in London, and for many hours was inaccessible. At last some of the telegrams reached her, at 7 p.m., and she came by the first available (slow) train from Paddington, getting here at 11.
Raymond took the midnight train to Euston; his brothers, Alec, Lionel, and Noel accompanying him. They would reach Euston at 3.50 a.m. and have two hours to wait, when he was to meet a Captain [Capt. Taylor], and start from Waterloo for Southampton. The boys intended to see him off at Waterloo, and then return home to their war-business as quickly as they could.
He seems quite well; but naturally it has been rather a strain for the family: as the same sort of thing has been for so many other families.
O. J. L.
' Hotel Dervaux, 75, Grande Rue,
' Boulogne-sur-Mer,
' Wednesday, March 24, 1915, 11.30 a.m.
' Following on my recent dispatch, I have the honour to report that we have got stuck here on our way to the Front.
' My servant has been invaluable en route and he has caused us a great deal of amusement. He hunted round at the goods station at Rouen (whence we started) and found a large circular tin. He pierced this all over to form a brazier and attached a wire handle. As soon as we got going he lit this, having filled it with coal purloined from somewhere, and when we stopped by the wayside about 10 or 11 p.m. he supplied my compartment (four officers) with fine hot tea. He had previously purchased some condensed milk. He also saw to it that a large share of the rations, provided by the authorities before we left, fell to our share, and looked after us and our baggage in the most splendid way.
' He insists on treating the train as a tram. As soon as it slows down to four miles an hour, he is down on the permanent way gathering firewood or visiting some railway hut in search of plunder. He rides with a number of other servants in the baggage wagon, and as they had no light he nipped out at a small station and stole one of the railwaymen's lamps. However, there was a good deal of fuss, and the owner came and indignantly recovered it.
' As soon as we stop anywhere, he lowers out of his van the glowing brazier. He keeps it burning in the van! I wonder the railway authorities don't object. If they do, of course he pretends not to understand any French.
' He often gets left behind on the line, and has to scramble into our carriage, where he regales us with his life history until the next stop, when he returns to his own van.
' Altogether he is a very rough customer and wants a lot of watching all the same he makes an excellent servant.'
