Then we all rose, and there was a brief moment for silent prayer.

At midnight the buglers of the 14th Battalion sounded the Last Post, and at the close the band struck up the hymn "O God our help in ages past." A mighty chorus of voices joined in the well-known strains.

After the Benediction, I went down to the door and shook hands with as many of the men as I could and wished them a happy New Year.

No one who was at that service will ever forget it.

As we found out, the trail before us was longer than we had expected, and the next New Year's Eve found many of us, though, alas, not all, in that theatre once more, still awaiting the issue of the conflict.
In January, I paid a flying visit to the Canadian Cavalry Headquarters at Tully near Abbeville, and saw many old friends.