Stretcher Bearers at the Double - ElectricCanadian.com

"SUNNY" FRANCE 75
The Fall and Winter of 1915-16 were about the stormiest of
the whole war, and our first taste of nasty weather in Dranoutre
had not quite prepared us for what we were to experience at
Mont Noir and the farm. On looking back at our stay in those
two places we can recall scarcely a day when it didn t rain, snow
or blow - - or do all three simultaneously. For once, the supply
people showed good judgment and we were issued leather jerkins
and rubber rain-capes. These two articles of clothing helped a lot
to fend us from the raw climate, but in spite of their help many
of the lads contracted heavy chest colds and coughs, which, be
cause of the prevailing conditions, they had a hard time getting
rid of.
One of those who took unto himself a very severe cough and
cold was Henderson. Jim s horse-line duties had brought him a
cough that seemed to come from down near his boots, and a
chest cold that promised to get him either a funeral or a long
spell back in some tuberculosis hospital. But he fooled every
body, and got neither a six-foot plot of ground nor a trip down
the line. He was merely
"excused duty"
and kept lying around
the farm barn for a few weeks, while he coughed and spat and
shivered and shook till we thought the billet must topple over.
Just to cheer him up and help him on his way, one of the lads
made up a parody to "O Canada" and everybody got a great
kick out of sitting around the sick man and singing him towards
recovery. Here is what they sang
:
Poor Henderson! His race is almost run.
-
He has the con. We mean con-sum-shee-un.
For he coughs all night and he spits all day
And his eyes are growing dim.
And just about next Saturday we ll have to bury
poor Jim (Qor-blimey!)
Poor Henderson! Poor Henderson! On his grave
well have to put "He died of the Con!"
On his grave we ll have to put "He died of the Con!"
Who can ever forget Louise, the sturdy daughter at this same
farm? There was a girl for you! She was rather pretty in her
rough way: bright-eyed, rosy-cheeked, broad-shouldered, and
with a sitter-down that would crowd the largest washtub. She
was extremely good-natured and, while she would put up with
an extraordinary amount of teasing, she would not stand for