It is the destiny of all Coolie Labour Battalions, once landed in France, to be divided into I don’t know how many parts, and disbursed over a wide area of usefulness…some are marching by the harvested fields of the Somme country on the way to chalk pits to dig ballast for light railways; others are in the docks of the great ports of the South, loading and unloading the cargoes of war; yet others are digging trenches within the sound of the guns, With planes droning overhead… A few on account of their special knowledge retained at the Base Headquarters, happy in the field office, or the YMCA canteen.  And they are shod with heavy army boots and issues outbound about with Puttees. They sleep for the most part in huts and are well supplied with blankets.

Chris Ward, Living on the Western Front:
Annals and Stories, 1914-1919,  p203