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Updated: June 7, 2025
The Subaltern often used to wonder what the poor wretches thought of troops, which, though in possession of arms and ammunition, still retreated always retreated. They could not understand. The march came to an end about one o'clock. A halt of half-an-hour for dinner was ordered in the shade of some huge trees in a park. The mess-cart and Cookers arrived, and a meal was soon in progress.
Pretty soon Winton said very low, "They're a couple of millionaire campers young fellows. Their people are staying near Leeds and those fellows have got a tent right across there in the woods near the shore. They're having the time of their lives with an up-to-date oil stove and a couple of fireless cookers and some thermos bottles and things.
This was done by platoons of the support and reserve companies who had frequently to make two or three journeys during the night, along the slippery track past Pond Farm and Cookers Corner the last a famous and much loathed spot.
The men were sitting on the banks of the road, or clustered round the "Cookers," drawing their breakfast rations of bread and cold bacon. Then the Major came back. There was an expression on his face that showed he was well aware of the dramatic part he was about to play. There was a pause of several seconds. The Major seemed to be at a loss quite how to begin.
We had emerged so suddenly from the pack into the open sea that we had not had time to take aboard ice for melting in the cookers, and without ice we could not have hot food. The 'Dudley Docker' had one lump of ice weighing about ten pounds, and this was shared out among all hands.
Tunics, breeches, and overcoats are mended by tailors; rusty camp cookers are retinned, and in the foundries the precious scraps of cast iron are melted into braziers to keep Tommy in the trenches warm. In the machine-shops the injured guns and cannon are repaired. German prisoners are working there, too.
'Put some water in the kettle, Frank. 'Here you are! Anything else? 'Some in the small saucepan for the eggs. 'I believe they are "cookers," said he, sniffing at them suspiciously. 'Hold them up to the light, sir. There, they are quite bright and nice. In with them! Now, if you will cut some bread and butter it, we shall soon have our supper ready.
The picket lines are run across at right angles to the line of advance and secured to the two sledges at each end. In a few minutes ponies are on the lines covered, tents up again and cookers going. Meanwhile the dog drivers, after a long cold wait at the old camp, have packed the last sledge and come trotting along our tracks.
Venant, followed by the transport and the cookers, from which at the cost of never so much delay I felt determined to give the men, who had had no proper meal for twenty-four hours, a good square feed before becoming involved in the uncertain and possibly rationless conflict which lay before us in country that was likely to have been looted by the retreating Portuguese.
Just before dusk the "machine" halted at Verchocq, after a march of thirty-three kilos. They were tired, worn, hungry.... No lorries or cookers turned up that night! Followed that abrupt revival of spirits that cannot but remain a pyschological mystery. No cookers no grub.
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