William Milne (27 July 1883 – 16 December 1982) was a Scotland international rugby union player.
The unloading of the trains of wounded is a sad enough sight, and one that does not lose its pathos even with repetition.
It is a sight that all should see who speak lightly of war or emphasise the glamour and glitter of it, for the romantic side of things is conspicuous by its absence.
Yet there are fine things even in these processions of bruised and battered humanity wounded men badly in need of help themselves, yet helping some lame comrade; men enduring in grim silence an agony of suffering; cheerful souls speaking hopefully of the future though they have lost a limb or an eye, and "must enter into life maimed" after the war.
One is impressed with the fact that a short time here brings about a readjustment of moral values, that some things which at home seem of great importance shrink to insignificance, and other virtues which had slipped into the background loom large and vital here.
A pleasanter bit of work is driving the wounded to the hospital ship or the train conveying them to the port of embarkation for home, or "Blighty' as they always call it.
War knows nothing of Sabbaths or Churches, and the most we can have to distinguish Sundays from week days is a short service conducted by a neighbouring chaplain.
You will have disadvantages and hindrances owing to the lighting restrictions and the unavoidable reduction of numbers because of the demands of war, but I trust that enthusiasm will more than counterbalance these.