Left Morn Hill Camp at 10 am in full marching order, carrying 130 rounds of ammunition in clips. Passing thro’ Winchester we got a rousing reception & also at Villages enroute to Southampton. At latter place the people turned out in thousands, shaking hands with the troops and giving hot tea & biscuits, cigarettes etc; arrived at the docks at 5 pm & embarked at 7 pm. No tea till 8 pm. The first meal since leaving camp. Our berths consist of cattle stalls with open hatchway thro’ which the rain & wind came uninvited. The meals were under true active service conditions & consisted of biscuits and corned beef. The Kings Royal Rifles are alongside us on another ship. They also came with us from Morn Hill Winchester & marched the 14 miles to Southampton.
*Morn Hill Camp – The Morn Hill Camp was a transit camp built close to the city of Winchester, England for British troops headed towards the Western front. In 1917 the Morn Hill camp was transferred to the US Army for its use. Over two million troops passed though during the duration of the war and a Hospital was even built at Morn Hill specifically for soldiers suffering from illness rather than Injury.
