It was not just a sudden decision that I made to join the Army. My pals were going... And then if you looked in the newspapers we saw that Canadians were coming, Australians were coming, South Africans were coming... Then when you went to the pictures you’d be shown crowds of young men drilling in Hyde Park or crowding round the recruiting office, or it might be a band playing ‘Tipperary’. The whole thing was exciting, and even in the pulpits - although it started rather shakily at first - they eventually decided to come down on the side of the angels and blessed our little mission. …The other great factor was that the womenfolk, fifty per cent of the population, were very keen on the war… In other words the whole effect was cumulative, but we were not pressed, we made our own decisions. << less