They were applied
for regularly through the French Army. About three months after
application was made, they were all received back with the statement from
the French that, seeing the workers were already there, it was not now
necessary that permits should be issued. It must be reported that the
French Army was opposed to the presence of women in any of the camps of
the soldiers. This prejudice existed for a long time, but it was finally
broken down because of the good work done by Salvation Army women, which
came to be fully recognized by the French Army.
The work in the Montdidier Sector was particularly hard. Permanent
buildings could not be established. The best that could be done was to
erect portable tents, which were about twenty feet wide and fifty-seven
feet long. Huts were established in partially destroyed buildings or
houses or stores that had been vacated by their owners, and on the extreme
front canteens were established in dugouts and cellars and the entire
district was under bombardment from the German guns as well as from the
airplane bombs. The Salvation Army had no place there that was not under
bombardment continually. The huts were frequently shelled and there was
imminent danger for a long time that the German Army would break through,
which, of course, added to the strain.
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