On the afternoon of Friday, 30 July 1915, the battalion marched back into Le Havre. They left by train at 7 pm heading north, a journey that would take all night and the whole of Saturday, with a break at Abbeville for tea and a shave. While there, the train joined four other troop trains all heading for St Omer. The weather was hot and the train crowded, but everyone was in good spirits. They noticed that the French seemed cheerful too: there was no shouting or flag waving ‘but lots of people came up to shake hands as we passed.’