early & we leave camp at 4.30 AM & march to La Harve station we go by a shorter route than we went up & its all down hill arrive at depot at 8.15 AM. I am detailed as guard in the forage van with two other boys & have a good trip, the rest of the boys were herded up worse than cattle. we leave La Harve at 11.30 AM. pass thro Rouen & Calais Wed AUG 16. We arrive at Poperinghe, Belgium at 10. AM. we march to a camp known as G15. I am put into No 1 hut this camp is about six miles from Ypres. Saw an aeroplane scrap & some of the enemy aircraft shelled by our anti-aircraft battery. A party of 15 of our unit sent up the line to see how things are actually worked, they are under the care of the 8th Field Amb. Roll call & orders of the day read at 9.30. Thursday aug 17. Rained all the morning. lecture on gas in the afternoon & helmet drill. Walked to a nearby
▸ Where was he?
▸ The war at this time
Poperinge and the Ypres Salient
Poperinge ('Pop' to the soldiers) is the last town behind the Ypres Salient, about eight miles from Ypres and roughly ten miles from the front line. It serves as a rest and supply centre for troops rotating in and out of the line. Talbot House, an 'Everyman's Club' for soldiers of all ranks, opened here in December 1915. Ypres itself is a medieval city reduced to rubble. The famous Cloth Hall and Cathedral are ruins. The city remains under constant German shellfire but British troops still shelter in its cellars. The Salient has been contested since October 1914.
