The wake up was a bleary 6.00am. By 6.45am The Pals were down, with cases and ready to go. By 7.09am rooms were checked, cases were loaded, and we were off. First stop, Dunkirk.

The journey was pretty quiet as most pals chose to use the opportunity to get a little bit more “shut-eye” than they’d perhaps had overnight.

We arrived at Dunkirk at about 8.20am. A very seamless French, and the UK immigration check later brought us to the ferry. Well done to the officials of both countries for completing BOTH checks of pals within about 20 minutes.

In the ferry, we all had meal tickets. Many took the breakfast that was included in this, regarding the “packed breakfast” from the hostel as inefficient.

Our first sign of Blighty was the unmistakable White Cliffs of Dover. We failed to spot any bluebirds however, as Nat Burton would not write them for another 23 years or so.

The band of The Light Division were kind enough to provide accompaniment up the A2. We then watched the famous final episode of “Blackadder Goes Forth”. The pathos of the ending against the humour really brought home the horror of the war in a way the pals had not experienced before.

A little congestion around Dartford did dot deter (or detour) us as we made for The North.

We arrived at Peterborough Services at 2.37pm. Much in the way of fried chicken was eaten before we continued on our journey.

Relief was taken at Weatherby, and everyone was indeed very relieved on this very long journey.

Soon after, we had to wave goodbye to Dan, our driver from Bibby’s of Ingleton. He’d been fabulous the whole trip and very much part of the battalion. It was a sad moment.

We crossed the border to the sound of “Scotland the Brave. More sustenance was gained at Gretna, before the “final push” would take us another 2 h or so to Kirkcaldy. The song is absolutely true in that the last mile home is always the most difficult. As we wound round the A702, we sang this and all of our other soldier songs. I think this might have been the time I heard the pasl sing with the most gusto.

As we crossed the Queensferry Crossing, Sam went down the bus, shook all hands, and said a personal “Thank You” to all the pals. We also thanked him with three huge cheers. He had been a superb guide. He’s so knowledgable, and so passionate about his subject. I really could feel the admiration the pals had for him as goodbyes were said.

At 11.45pm as scheduled, we arrived back at Kirkcaldy High to be greeted by our loved ones. We went home to sleep, feeling weary, but proud of everything we had achieved, and experienced. We were changed.