BRIGADE SPORTS IN FRANCE

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 266, 30 July 1918, Page 8

BRIGADE SPORTS IN FRANCE

A DAY .OFF BEHIND THE FIRING-LINE

(By Lieutenant A. A. Milne.)

Our brigade bad been withdrawn from the battle-lino, and was resting in one if the prottiest corners of France. "'Resting" means "not fighting"; it does not meuu that tliero is any less to be done. Indeed, we were particularly bu6y in our village. There were new specialists la be trained in order to replaco casualties, and new reinforcements io be acclimatised. So that, happy as wo all were to have a fortnight away fiom the guns, we welcomed very warmly the suggestion of a <lay'a holiday in which to hold brigade sports. The staiT- ' captain was the moving spirit in the affair, chiefly, I fancy, because he had a liors-j which was warranted to "jump anything," and wanted an opportunity to jump some of it in public. The result was that a good many of the events were open only to mounted officers. This made it no less attractive to the unmounted private; for, besides tho fun of watching, and backing his fancy, ho had also—as will be seen—his own opportunities of distinguishing himself. Tho battalion, then, was ready to patronise the sports in full strength. The adjutant had had some idea of making a parade of it. Re saw himself giving some such order as "Hove to tho sports in fours—Form fours-Sporls." However, he was uverruled. Tho colonel's opinion was that the .men would be only too glad to go, in order to have something to write hon.e about which was acceptable to the censor, iie proved to be right.

Horse-racing and jumping is much the same, all the world over. In this lino the most interesting event ivas a race in which the runner-up was the winner. Personally I have always found it diflicult enough to be first past the post, but I can quite imagine that deliberately to be second is much more difficult. It is a race which demands from the winner a food deal 0 f judgment, n certain amount of luck, and probably a selfeacrificing comrade in the same'battalion who is prepared to immolate himself on behalf of the regiment. But 1 nlwaya feel sorry for the winning horse in this race, who 6ees a liorse in front of him and never realises that the prizo is none the less his own.

Wrestling on Mules. Wrestling on mules has a charm of it 3 own. This is a team event. Four stout men from the transport section, stripped to the waist and mounted on bare-backed mules, represent each battalion, and the team which has the last survivor wins. At the beginning each man singles out an opponent from the other side and makee for him. Four desperate struggles ensue, and it is easy to see that whichever aide gains the first victory is pretty euro to win. For suppose a Warwick unhorses—or more correctly unmules—a Bedford, then there are four Warwicks left to three Bedfords, so that, of tho three battles now in progress, one of them is a two-to-one affair. in tho end it is four to one, and unhappy business for the one. Perhaps the most surprising thing about it all is the kindly way in which the mules fake to it. Their opportunities of biting suitably placed bodies are unlimited, but they seem absolutely indifferent to their luck. One begins to think that the bad temper of the mule is an invention of the comic papers.

Pillow-fighting in gas masks, sealed astride a polo, provides plenty of sport for the spectators. The pole may not be touched with the hands, so that thero is really nothing to keep one on it but balance. As often as not the first blow finishes'it. If you land on your oppon. ent's head over he goes. But if his head is not there to take the blow—he having meanly withdrawn it—the swing of your pillow is quits enough to lake you off, without any effort from him. Or you may both hit, both miss, and both disappear together, a proceeding guaranteed to make even generals laugh. In addition to other events designed to aiau.se—as mop fighting, mounted on the back of another man—or to produce a sporting contest—as (he inter-battalion tug-of-wnr—our brigade sports provided one competition of u more serious nature. This was a competition between transport' sections for the best turned-out cooker and limber. It gave the transport officers something to think about for a week in udvance of the day, and there was much eispenditiou of paint (tho regimental colours, no less) and elbow-grease and ribbons. And when tho divisional general hud given his verdict, and we learnt that our battalion had not won, our transport officer was looked at askanco by the rest of us, until he explained the matter. Then we forgave him; for, as he said, it was a low trick of the Bed/ords to make the cooker look mors realistic by providing a cook !<> go with it, and—this was the dastard blo.v—to add a touch of idealism b.V washing the cook's face.

. But it is not the events which t^ive the air of holid.iy to brigade sporls, any more than it is at the Derby. It is the jolly crowd in which even generals are human, and through which the clowns and pierrots from the Divisional !L*olly Troupe perambulate happily, with a joke—not too good a one for a summer's day—for everybody, no matter what his rank. Add :i few French civilians 'row neighbouring chateaux, and all (lie children of the villages around, and yoi get as jolly a bank holiday gathering as the most peaceful country can show. The guns roll faintly beyond the hills. Well, they can wait for the moment. .