Stretcher Bearers at the Double - ElectricCanadian.com

ENGLAND 31
Perhaps some of the men may remember the obstacle race in
which contestants had to crawl under a tarpaulin which was
staked tightly to the ground, squeeze through some small barrels
and squirm their way through other obstacles. Bob Hare won
this race. The hundred-yard dash was won by Red McKenzie.
There was a sack race, too, but we can not recall the winner s
name.
Considerable documentation was carried out while we were at
Otterpool. Part of this consisted of the making of a Short Form
of Will by every officer and man. A copy of this Will was in
every man s
paybook. In the course of time many of the Wills
were acted upon and found fully legal.
As late as 1932 one of our
Otterpool staff-sergeants was called into court to identify the
signature he had placed on one fellow s Will seventeen years
before.
Some of the lads got down to actual fighting at Otterpool, in
preparation for active service. Art Tucker and Carl Hill had a
little difference which, to the amusement of all the boys, they
settled for all time with the gloves. Heavy Cardwell and Fred
Wardell also resorted to fisticuffs. It is doubtful if any of these
lads could now tell you what their private wars were about.
Gordon Rosser, with his powers of observation keenly devel
oped through years of Boy Scout training and frequent references
to Baden-Powell s official manual, called out the guard one night,
to warn the sleeping troops of an approaching Zeppelin - - only
to have them discover for him that it was merely the rising
full moon !
It was at Otterpool, too, that Art. Husband, returning from
leave one midnight, brought back such glowing tales of Dublin
and the Irish people: "Biggest brewery in the world- -finest
library in Europe - - largest park in the Empire - - and the most
hospitable people in the whole universe." Hubbie didn t quit his
descriptions until just before Reveille, and then only because his
stock of superlatives had run out.
Jim McGillivray, who later went to the 28th Battalion and
won one of the Second Division s first Military Medals, retained
his Western-Canadian ideas, to which he gave voice one night
he was able to come by train from Folkestone and hop the
Westenhanger fence, without paying his fare: "It s no harm to
cheat the C. P. R.," Jim would say, "they
took plenty from us!"