 Étaples was a particularly notorious base camp for those on their way to the front.The officers and non-commissioned officers (NCOs) in charge of the training, the "canaries", had a reputation for not having served at the front, which created a certain amount of tension and contempt.Both raw recruits and battle-weary veterans were subjected to intensive training in gas warfare and bayonet drill, and long sessions of marching at the double across the dunes for two weeks.