Chapter Sixteen – Dash to Armentières
Albert couldn’t find a motorcycle, so he took a bicycle. At first the mud made progress difficult, but soon he could ride, even though the roads were in a state of poor repair because of shelling.
He hoped they would consider him a messenger and that no-one would stop him or check his story.
Givenchy was full of soldiers preparing to go to the front. Badly damaged houses and ruins lined what the shelling had left of the streets.
Craters from the mines exploded when the British captured the village, littered the fields by the road to Festubert. Albert navigated by making sure he kept the front line on his right. The roads were in constant use by military vehicles and soldiers and they would often push him to the side of the narrow muddy lanes. At le
