Tommy's Life: At the Base

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Publisher Gaultier Savigny Location Boulogne Paris Date Nov 1917 n/a n/a Cards               Set Long Long Short Crossing the Channel … 1 1   You clean your knife … 2 2 1 When I got ready … 3 3 2 “House" is the most popular … 4 4 3 The new soldier at the Base … 5 5 4 Do you remember the girls … 6 6 5 The first bit of work I did … 7 7   But we also tried hard … 8 8 6 You might one day put on … 9 9 7 We left the Base … 10 10 8

 

AB 1 Crossing the Channel was quite a thrilling thing. But an old B. E. F. man rather spoiled the trip by swanking without his life belt, and otherwise showing everybody the entire thing was far from new to him.         B. E. F. (“British Expeditionary Force”) is often used to refer only to the forces present in France prior to the end of the First Battle of Ypres on 22 November 1914. By the end of 1914—after the battles of Mons, Le Cateau, the Aisne and Ypres—the old regular British army had been wiped out, although it managed to help stop the German advance. An alternative endpoint of the BEF was 26 December 1914, when it was divided into the First and Second Armies. B.E.F. remained the official name of the British Army in France and Flanders throughout the First World War. The “old B.E.F. man” here is wearing what appears to be a 2 year Good Conduct stripe (or chevron) on his lower left sleeve. Regulations required that they be worn point up, so in this instance Mackain may be making a humorous observation of the soldier’s misconduct!
AB 2 You clean your knife and fork by shoving 'em in the sand, here at the Base. It’s much better than washing them.         Drafts not destined to go straight to units – the majority of men arriving in France from mid-1916 – went instead to Etaples and its surroundings, the unwelcoming world of the base depots with the infamous “bullrings”. The areas east of the river Canche were home to a variety of infantry base depots, hospitals, and convalescent camps. The sand area north of the depots had a long line of training compounds.
AB 3 When I got ready to go to bed, I found I was kindly permitted to sleep on a triangular space large enough to accommodate a small slice of mince pie.         Mince pie: a small pie filled with fruit  Bell tents were large, round white fabric constructs that could house up to 10 men, with low level wooden beds arranged like the spoke of a wheel (or slices of a pie) around the central tent pole. When it rained the floor of the tent would become very wet and muddy, and the soldiers would hang their boots from the ceiling to stop them filling with water.
AB 4 "House" is the most popular game at the Base. Who hasn’t heard those familiar lines: “Eyes down! Legs eleven! Kelly’s eye Blind half hundred! And another lucky dip in the bag!”.         House: Bingo
AB 5 The new soldier at the Base soon learns that the most important weapon he possesses is his jack knife. He’ll have to do most of his overcoming of difficulties with it!             Tin Labels: BULLY BEEF (of which Fray Bentos was the most popular) CHIVERS JAM PORK and BEANS (tinned beans with a small cube of fat at the bottom) ARMY RATION   WW1 British Jack Knife, this version probably made by Joseph Rogers or George Wostenholm.
AB 6 Do you remember the girls who used to follow your lot on march when you hadn’t a sou in your pocket – and wail: “Orangeez! Ah-pools! Shock-o-la!”.         Orangeez: Oranges Ah-pools: Apples Shock-o-la: Chocolate Sou: In the French language, which evolved from common Latin, “solidus” (a gold coin issued by the romans) mutated to “soldus”, then “solt”, then “sol” and finally “sou”. The monetary unit disappeared with decimalization and introduction of the Franc but 5 centimes, the twentieth part of the Franc, inherited the name as a nickname. To this day, in French around the world, solde is the specific name of a soldier's salary. Sou is also used as slang for a small coin of little value, as in sans le sou. "I'm broke", "without money".
AB 7 The first bit of work I did in France was cutting the grass in a little plot in front of the Orderly Room. I began to think soldiering on Active Service wasn’t half bad, you know.           The Orderly Room in the barracks of a battalion or company was used for general administrative purposes. Efforts were made to beautify the camps, and in front of the officers’ quarters little gardens had been planted with flowers and vegetables, and in some cases regimental crests had been worked with various pieced of colored glass. Tommy is being watched by an unpleasant looking lance corporal, many of whom took pride in making the life of the soldiers miserable while At Base.
AB 8 But we also tried hard to kill ourselves, before we could get up the Line, by tearing like mad up and down a lot of sand hills in full fighting order           Full Fighting Order A pack in full fighting order could weigh as much as 50% of a soldier’s body weight. The instructors at the infamous Etaples sand hills were known as Canaries because of their penetrating voices and their yellow colored “brassards” or armbands.
AB 9 You might one day put on all your stuff, and say to yourself “It is impossible to carry all this”. But all the time the Q. M. department is getting together a lot more to hand you as a parting gift!           Q. M. : Quarter Master After May 1915, a badge of three chevrons pointing down with a crown at the top was worn only by the Company Quarter-Master Sergeant (also see IT 5).     Private F. Mackain Registration Number 4299 23rd Battalion, Royal Fusiliers Allied Post Office S 17 British Expeditionary Force France A.P.O. 17 was at Etaples 1915-19
AB 10 We left the Base in great style and in cattle trucks. We must have averaged a good mile an hour. The juvenile population along the way make earnest enquiries concerning our “iron rations”.           Boo-lee Bee-e-e-f: Bully Beef: Tinned corned beef (from French “bouilli”, as in “boiled” beef) Bis-kweet: Biscuit Iron Rations: Emergency ration of preserved meat, cheese, biscuit, tea, sugar and salt     Hommes 40  :  40 Men Chevaux 8  :  8 Horses       The narrow gauge railroads of France had box cars that were used to transport the soldiers to and from the fighting fronts. Each boxcar carried 40 men or 8 horses. The cars were stubby, only 20.5 feet long and 8.5 feet wide.

                   

 

Set Variants

Five variants of this set have been identified to date: two by Gaultier; and three by Savigny.

At the Base Cards	Gaultier			Savigny
	Isore	Long (A)	Long (B)	Long (A)	Long (B)	Short (A)	Short (B)
Crossing the Channel was quite a thrilling thing …		1	1	1		-	-
You clean your knife and fork by shoving 'em in the sand …		2	2	2		1	1
When I got ready to go to bed, I found I was kindly …		3	3	3		2	2
"House" is the most popular game at the Base …		4	4	4		3	3
The new soldier at the Base soon learns …		5	5	5		4	4
Do you remember the girls who used to follow your lot …		6	6	6		5	5
The first bit of work I did in France was cutting the grass …		7	7	7		-	-
But we also tried hard to kill ourselves …		8	8	8		6	6
You might one day put on all your stuff …		9	9	9		7	7
We left the Base in great style and in cattle trucks …		10	10	10		8	8
Card Thickness (inches)		.0145”	.0165”	.0100”		.0165”	.0130”
Reverse
Imp. P. Gaultier, Boulogne-s-Mer. – Edition P. G. Visé 1-11-17 Imp. P. Gaultier, Boulogne-sur-Mer. – Edition P. G. Visé 1-11-17		Left	-	-		-	-
Imp. P. Gaultier, Boulogne-s-Mer. – Ed. P. G. Visé 1-11-17		-	Center	-		-	-
Imp. G. Savigny, Paris – P.G.		-	-	Center		-	-
Paris. – Imp. G. Savigny, 80, rue de Cléry.		-	-	-		Center	Center
Errors / Inconsistencies
Missing period after “slice of mince pie”		-	-	3		2	2
Quotation marks around ”House” are both closing marks		-	-	4		3
“Tommy’s Life” misspelled “Tomm’ys Life”		-	-	6		5	5
Missing “–” dash from “In Training. No”		-	-	-		5	-
The word “get” is misspelled “gep” Period after “full fighting order” is missing		-	-	8		6	6
Comma after “all your stuff” is replaced with period Accent added to “together” as in “getting togéther a lot more”		-	-	9		7	7