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Our Despatches from the Front (No. 75).

17th February 1916
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Well-paid Canadian. M.T. An Amusing if Belated Account of an ActiveService Christmas in an A.S.0 Ni.T., Column.

IN a CANADIAN AMM. PK.

5th February.

Canadian Driver Ratings.

It may be interesting for you to have a few notes with regard to the ratings of the drivers in this Canadian column. These are within public knowledge, so that there t can be no harm in my putting down the particulars for your readers in suitable form.

To understand the ratings accurately, one requires to know the various duties and to be aware of the amount of skill which it is necessary for a man to possess in order to be rated accordingly.

Duties oF Supply Men.

Supply men assist in loading and unloading trucks." They ride in the rear of the machine, and part of their duties is to signal the approach of any vehicles likely to overtake. They also assist in the cleaning. Second-class drivers are not responsible for the condition of the " truck." Their duties are to oil and grease it, to draw petrol, to assist in the loading, unloading and the cleaning of the machine, and they are also expected to be able to drive should the leading driver be oil duty for some reason or other.

First-class drivers are responsible for the condition of the machines, and they also assist in loading, unloading and cleaning. The actual driving is usually divided between the first and second-class ratings, but it is quite at the discretion of the leading man.

A Minimum of I•6 Dollar,s.

Quite often, a man will be some few months performing his higherrated duties before he is actually confirmed in that position, but every man in the unit receives a minimum of $1.6, unless, of course, he has a "crime " against him, when his pay is often reduced to $1.10 for as many as six months. Of course, if a man is under detention, and therefore not working, his whole pay is stopped for the.period of his detention ; . on the other hand, a driver in hospital will continue to receive his pay according to his rating.

1■.Viyes of married men receive JA. 2s. 2d. pel. month (20 dollars), and wives living in Canada receive an additional $20 from the Patriotic Fund in that Colony, if their husbands are not in receipt of other income, such as half-pay from • late employers, or other money. I am not at all certain

if the Patriotic Fund money is intended for the wives of men receiving more than $1.10, but no doubt many of our drivers' wives get it.

cheer" rather implies that you cannot have much merriment and very good cheer at one and the same time. We muster only ten 111.T.s and one of us, lucky beggar, was on furlough in England, but despite lit giterre our little party continued to celebrate Christmas with merriment and good cheer that will ever live in our memories.

Orriss alias Studie.

Our Christmas preparations really began early in the month when Orriss, whose other alias is Studie because he drives our Studebaker van, began to make his one-string fiddle. The completed

instrument comprised an artfully shaped piece of ash with a cigar box at the noisier end, sundry twiddly bits of wood? plus a string bought after great linguistic effort in MENI, and woomparatively costly bow. The next step was collaboration with the Company's saddler, tailor, shoemaker 'and a sapper fitter, bringing our number up to thirteen. Mademoiselle having declined the invitation to dine with treize soMats Anglais, Currents, one of the electricians as his name implies, was elected, partly to avoid the unlucky number thirteen and largely because Currents was bound to energize the whole affair.

Pork in Place of Poultry.

A contribution of six francs a. head, followed by a shopping excursion undertaken by Orriss, the saddler, and the, resulted in the accumulation of a prodigious supply of attractive food and drink, the enumeration of which would remind readers of Arabian Nights banquets. Poultry being at a premium,pork was acclaimed an . excellent substitute, the resulting purchase being eminently satisfacI ory. Madame of the farm allowed us to book one of her ovens a few days ahead, a necessary precaution. Of .course, it had been arranged throughout the company that only absolutely essential work was to be done on Christmas Day.

No Christmas Tree.

The twenty-four hours then made up 25th December commenced with disturbing salvoes by some of our artillery in the vicinity of our billets. A couple of lorries starting up and departing with a midnight. load for the trenches contributed to the uproar, and so 1 saw Christmas in at the door of my bivvy, looking skywards to see if by chance a Zeppelin was the cause of the artillery's liveliness. From then until daybreak the, gunners left nobody any hobe that there might be a repetition of last year's Christmas "truce."

In an R.E. Workshop.

Overnight the R.E. members of our Christmas mess had cleared up their workshop and shown the usual R.E. resourcefulness in the selection of materials and manner of decorating the room which was to serve for our salle a manger. Canvas, coloured paper, Christmas cards and some evergreens from the adjaeent wood effectively disguised the ordinary rsaes of the room. For the information of the few who are even yet unfamiliar with soldiering I may mention that the ordinary uses of the room included bedroom, feeding room, workshops for four diverse trades and recreation room, but nobody would have guessed it if they had

f•-'30 seen the tables laid for dinner on Christmas Day. Dishes, plates, and cups were fashioned out . of tins, and every available knife, fork and spoon mobilized.

A Splendid Menu.

Determined to do the thing thoroughly, even breakfast was glorified by some extras from the line purchases, and was followed by a generous distribution of fags, sweets, Christmas crackers, fruit, and warm clothing, gifts from our officers. But dinner—well, dinner beggars description. Madame's stove oven roasted our joint so perfectly that pork could never have been tastier or less,. indigestible ; the apple sauce served was a credit to Orris, as were also the jellies, custards and some other fancy sweets. Our Christmas duff, saturated with rum and brought to table all ablaze, was served with hot custard and was a dream. Nearly all of us had some hand in the preparation or cooking, which kept the morning hours fully occupied and increased our appetite and enjoyment of that memorable meal. I think we could all truth

fully say that it was as appetising and satisfying a Christmas dinner as we have ever eaten. The beer was English, free, and at least adequate in quantity. A stroll round the company's billets in this damp part of " Somewhere" during the afternoon revealed much conviviality and showed that ours was not the only successful attempt at a genuine Christmasdinner, though notes exchanged since have convinced me it was unsurpassed in any way.

Our only, lorry out between breakfast and dinner had brought one casualty from the trenches, and so one of our carpenters had the sad and un-Christmassy job of making a coffin, that afternoon. C'est la guerre!

A Job on Christmas Night.

At tea-time a journey to the trenches on our lusty Peerless fell to my lot, so my evening was spent in a tiny room of a building, once some estaminet, but now a damp, leaky ruin, just behind the firing line. Here the keeper of our company's advanced store was entertaining a cheerful, assorted crowd of Tommies, who discussed the various ways in which folks at borne a.ncl. officers on the spot had enclea.voured to make our Christmas as pleasant as possible. The smoky but welcome wood fire was stoked generously, and. seemed almost as cosy as the home fires of former Christmases. I even had the luck to be sitting in an easy chair ; dirty, torn and dilapidated, but still easy.

Towards nine o'clock my return load came along, grousiiig cheerfully about the weather and the state of some trenches. Our drive back to billets along the holey roads just behind the lines, with no light but that of the moon plus firing-line pyrotechnics, was enlivened by the terrific shaking up we got through failure to avoid recent shell holes, and. the cheery songs of my load.

got hack to billet in time for a hurried supper of our regal fare ; then lights out and a truly memor

able Christmas was over for ten. detached M.T.s.

Tags

Organisations: Patriotic Fund, R.E.

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