190 SIR WILLIAM RAMSAY 



The Ramsays were able to get home without serious 

 trouble, as narrated in a letter from home to Mr. Fyfe 

 on the llth August : 



'' We had no hardships at all ; I commandeered the hotel 

 motor which had been away caught by the army authorities 

 for three days. The moment I saw it I bargained with the 

 chauffeur, and for the moderate sum of 120 francs he agreed to 

 put us and our luggage into Havre about 60 miles. We started 

 off on Thursday morning at 6 a.m. We were stopped twice by 

 outposts, but we had a permis de sejour also a permis de voyage, 

 so they let us pass. We got to Havre at about 10.30, and Lang- 

 staff, who is agent for the L. & S.W. Ry. Co., told us to go straight 

 to the boat for it was sailing at 11.30 the last chance. How- 

 ever, when we reached the boat, L. was there and he had a wire 

 to delay it till 10.30 p.m. So we had a day in, Havre. They 

 were expecting British troops over every minute ; the quays 

 were crowded, and they were singing the National Anthem and 

 the Marseillaise. Indeed before we reached Havre we were 

 told that 30,000 English soldiers had landed. All the Solent 

 is mined and we had a slow voyage up, arriving at 8 on Friday 

 morning." 



Needless to say Ramsay immediately devoted himself 

 to work of national importance, the first step being to 

 assist, through the Synthetic Products Company, of 

 which he was a director, in the provision of acetone, 

 a solvent essential in the production of cordite for 

 which the country had been dependent on foreign 

 sources. 



The letter concludes, " Well it is going to be a big 

 job. You and I never thought it would come in our 

 life time, did we ? " 



