?Mobilisation in the Great War

The following are first hand quotes and diary extracts of the mobilisation of British forces in 1914. They are taken from Paul Allens book "Neath a foreign sky."

Extract: Mobilisation 1914

Scarborough born Lance Sergeant George Henry Pateman of the Third Coldsteam, who had subsequently wrote to his mother describing?

?Here I am in Havre, France, after a rotten journey on the ship. I expect to go away tonight, so do not worry. I am A1 and will write when I get a chance. Sorry I did not see you before I left??

The Battalion had eventually made its laborious way into Belgium towards the sound of gunfire that had been resounding amongst the slag heaps of a small, until them, insignificant mining village named Mons. Sergeant Pateman had once again written to his mother that Saturday describing?

?Just got time for a card to let you know I am A1, been in the train now twenty four hours and still 200 miles to travel. I do not know we are going, everything is kept secret. Hoping you are keeping in the best. The same as myself so do not worry. Hope you received my last card. We have been on the way ever since Chelsea. When I get the chance to write a letter I will do so. It is lively travelling in cattle trucks all day. Buck up??

Extract: Welcomed in Belguim

The Battalion had never reached Mons, its advance having stopped on the twenty third of August at the nearby village of Hyon a mile to the southeast, where, according to the Battalion?s War Diary the men had been received with a warm welcome;

?The inhabitants welcomed the battalion with enthusiasm and with enormous quantities of coffee and new bread, which more than counteracted the fatigue of the march and the somewhat depressing effect of rather heavy rain; the usual cheeriness and optimism of the men were soon restored, and most of them spent the time singing with some impartiality selections from the music halls and hymns Ancient and Modern??

Source Paul Allen "Neath a foreign sky"