10 May 1917
Wilfred enjoyed 40 days being assessed at Gailly, where he went for a ride along the Somme Canal in a steam barge, on the 10th May, which inspired the later poem:
“Hospital Barge”
Budging the sluggard ripples of the Somme,
A barge round old Cérisy slowly slewed.
Softly her engines down the current screwed,
And chuckled softly with contented hum,
Till fairy tinklings struck their croonings dumb.
The waters rumpling at the stern subdued;
The lock-gate took her bulging amplitude;
Gently from out the gurgling lock she swum.
The lock was right next to the hospital at Gailly, while Cérisy was a mile East along the dead straight canal.
