The Doings of the Fifteenth Infantry Brigade
August 1914 to March 1915
BY
Brigadier-General COUNT GLEICHEN,
(now Major-General Lord Edward Gleichen),
K.C.V.O., C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O.
Aug. 16th.
The weather was beautifully fine on
the passage, and on the 16th we all arrived at our destination.
The Bedfords had arrived on the
previous tide to ourselves, and were already fast alongside the quay. Orders
were received from the Disembarking Officer, and we disembarked and formed up
independently and marched off to Rest Camp No. 8, six miles off on the hills
above Havre.
It had been pouring heavily on
shore for two days, though it was quite fine when we landed; so the ground
where we were to encamp was mostly sopping. It was not easy to find in the
dark, especially as the sketch-maps with which we were provided most distinctly
acted up to their names. Added to these difficulties, a motor-lorry had stuck
on the way up and blocked our transport for the night. I rode ahead alone, but
had immense difficulty in finding the Brigade Headquarters Camp, which was
quite a long way from the other battalion camps. These were dotted on the
open fields at some distance from each other, and pitched in no particular
order, so that by the time I had got my bearings and brought in the battalions,
it was about 11 P.M. There
was of course no baggage, nor anything to sleep on except the bare ground under
the tents, with our saddles for pillows; and as a pleasant excitement nearly
all our horses stampeded about 2 A.M., tore up their picketing-pegs from the soft ground, and
disappeared into the darkness in different directions.
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