Figure 1 . Depot living quarters, hammocks slung and put away (Toulon 5me Dépot des Équipages de la Flotte postcard set in author’s possession)
Apprentice sailors followed a daily routine during training. Brucelle’s next letter described the schedule and activities:
In the morning wake-up call at 5:30 am. We have half an hour to get dressed, make hammocks, and then go down to have coffee in the refectory at 7 am, exercise until 8:30 am. From 8:45 am to 10 am physical culture. At 10:15 am breakfast. Between breakfast and resumption of work we have to pack our bags, all of us, our bathing suits, and you talk if I’m the type to do the laundry, that’s not bad for me. I hired myself out as a washer on my way back. I’ve already used up a 14 cent bar of soap bought at my own expense. This afternoon boating school and football, then after I became a seamstress to sew all the canvas labels onto our clothing. I pricked my hands a bit. So all of a sudden you have a model son, and this evening before supper, we went swimming. I passed my swimming instructor certificate. I serve as quartermaster at the school for the soldiers. I am a monitor. I tell you another 6 months and I am an admiral. But with the sun beating down on us, I have become dark skinned. So, you see that we are not too unhappy. The most annoying thing is that we won’t be able to go out to town for the first time for 10 days, but we don’t even have enough time for that to bother us. In any case, we are 6 Parisians, we are the highest rated in the squad. You wouldn’t recognize me anymore.11Letter, 23 May 1913.
Some apprentice sailors without means took on washing and domestic duties from others to earn extra money. New friendships formed. Brucelle, intelligent and motivated, was still very much an enthusiastic recruit and enjoying the experience: “I’m still happy with my new life. I went to Cannes in a motorboat to take some luggage to the Captain and I assure you everything was pleasant.”22Letter, 29 May 1913. Special duty interrupted the normal routine’s monotony.
The visit of Raymond Poincaré, France’s president elected the previous January, to the area prompted much ceremony and celebration for theMarine nationale . Apprentice sailors received fresh fish as an extra supplement at parties in the president’s honour, though Brucelle fell sick to the stomach and spent a full week in the infirmary: “I resumed my service this morning, but decidedly the fish does not suit me. We have them here once a week. Glad I never eat it.”33Letter, 18 June 1913. Brucelle went on to describe his participation in the festivities:
For me here, these days have been fun. In the morning we went to form Poincaré’s escort to take him from the station to where he embarked on a speed launch which took him to the cruiser Jules Micheletanchored in the roadstead. Saturday afternoon we had rest and midnight leave, and as the whole town was celebrating, we took advantage of it. Woke up on Sunday at 3 am for the grand parade of all the garrison troops. It was a splendid sight. In the evening for the return of the President to Toulon, the whole squadron was illuminated - viewed from my window, it was magical. I have never seen anything so pretty, and at 11 pm, we returned to the platform to take Poincaré back to the train which returned him to Paris. You see that our 2 days were well spent and if I had not been ill, everything would have been perfect.
Sailors were both participants and backdrops for these ceremonial events that involved public and naval figures. Brucelle surprisingly wrote little about his day-to-day training at the depot, which according to a 1913 edition of the standard recruit manual included dress and deportment, discipline, drill with and without rifles, basic seamanship skills including rope knots, hygiene and physical conditioning, first aid, compass fundamentals, and signalling.44Marine nationale, Manuel des recrues des équipages de la flotte , 1st edn. (Paris: Imprimerie nationale, 1913), 4 parts. Sailors went on long group marches and walks in the countryside covering many kilometers. Brucelle commented: “This morning we paraded to the sound of music to prepare for 14 July. We are already there since it will be the same as for Poincaré. All that makes me laugh, I thought I was following the torchlight procession of Nogent with my company, with the music and Little Father Matz in front. I’m telling you there’s no such thing in the fleet. That’s the good view…Can you send me my certificate of studies because it must be presented to the Captain for the torpedo specialty. Send it to me within the week if possible.”55Letter, 25 June 1913. Tiring of barracks life in the depot, Brucelle was already planning for the next tranche of more advanced training and selected one of the most technical specialities to pursue. Brucelle scribbled on 9 July 1913: “I resumed my service this morning and to start we had an inspection from the Admiral, then we left for town all the companies together to do a mock parade and review for 14 July”.66Letter, 9 July 1913.