Franglais:
And I wouldn’t be surprised if they left before you in the morning too?
You can be sure they did, but they did have a bit of a start on me, they all went out without a coffee, leaving me at the bar. In the morning, apart from the dustmen who turned up for their morning coffees, there were only 2 wagons left out of the 30 odd the night before.
One of my erstwhile companions was from Peronne, if he was heading home, he had a bit further to go than my 45 minutes. 
And Muckles, the dustmen had their hi-vizes on, not sure about the steelies though. 