ETAPLES — MAY 1916  -John Scott





Were you ever in Etaples, mates? [Some of you must have been]
Where I happened to have a spell , way back in 1916.
New draft, fresh out from home, by way of Folkestone and Boulogne.
Some of us that did[ and some that didn‘t ] want to join.
Not what you‘d call keen, perhaps, though curious to know
The truth about this “Bullring” where they said we had to go.
Never been abroad before- not having had the chance-
As you might guess, all eyes and ears, when we first set foot in France.
Learning French from shopsigns that we passed along the way;
Patisserie, Boulangerie, Cafe, Estaminet.

Kids a-crowding round us, selling chocolate and fruit
And yelling “Are we downhearted “ everywhere along the route.
And there‘s one thing I‘ll never forget, from the very first day there;
The eyes of the marching troops we met seemed set in a kind of stare
And we wondered what we were coming to and whether they ‘d got that way
Through having to keep a sharp lookout for the enemy night and day.
And when we came to the rest camp, we saw fellows going on leave,
So we asked them what the front was like , and you can well believe
The sort of answer that we got; [there wasn‘t much to tell]
Just wanted to forget it, it was , Hell! Hell! Hell!
Then we eyed the distant skyline, wondering just how far away
Beyond that ridge, the enemy and all the fighting lay.
And after what those chaps had said, feeling a bit upset.
But we left next day for Etaples, for it wasn‘t our turn - yet.

Etaples camp in the month of May! How it all comes back to me!
The smell of those timbered huts, the smell of the breeze from the sea.
Reveille! The camp wakes up to a day of bustle and stir,
To the smell of the sand and the grass in the fresh morning air.
“Bring `em on!  Bring `em on!” That bugle call! Shall the memory ever fade?
Of those stirring notes in the early morn, that brought us on parade!
Then out through the lines of tents and huts to the sand strewn road with a song,
Where mademoiselles crying “Oranges” as the troops go swinging along.