1915
|
11 Mon A very dull day started to rain a little in the afternoon. Had sleep. A rum issue too. 12 Tu The first brigade got relieved from trenches and marched back. 13 Wed We are camped in huts near the town of Poperinghe, a very nice place too. 14 Th Went out on parade and did machine gun drill. Went to YMCA at night, wrote letters. 15 Fri Tame as usual. Went for a bath down to Poperinghe, a lovely shower bath and clean clothes. 16 Sat Went in for a walk to Poperinghe about 3 1/2 miles Brought a fountain pen and few other things. Mem Poperinghe is a fine place, some very large shops there. 
18 Mon Started to rain, very miserable and muddy, had no parade. Had machine gun practice in the hut. 19 Tu Still raining very hard. Went on picket up to a small village, about 3 miles away. 20 Wed Still very wet, a very heavy bombardment. There is a big balloon not far from here. 21 Th Sports postponed on account of the wet. 22 Fri Battalion sports held on a nice piece of ground near gas school. Had a good evening. 23 Sat Brigade sports held on same ground but did not go. I went into Poperinghe for the night. Mem D coy won the squad drill on Battalion day and a few more honours. 
25 Mon Left the camp and marched to the train. Took train to ??? then marched to 26 Tu firing line, getting there about 10 oclock. Old Fritz sent over a few mine and rifle grenades. 27 Wed On fatigue making dugouts and fixing parapets. The Huns sent over a terrible lot of grenades. 28 Th Fatigue as usual. 2nd Battalion had a little bombing raid. On post 2 hours on and four off. 29 Fri Our trench mortars threw over a terrible lot of bombs and rifle grenades, doing a lot of damage. 30 Sat A very quiet night - the Huns never fired a shot. 6th Battalion made a raid on Fritz's trenches and Mem capturing prisoners and killing a couple. They only had three casualties themselves. 
2 Mon Same as yesterday, nothing doing at all, with the exception of a few rifle grenades. Started to rain. 3 Tu At stand too: Pte Hollis got killed and Pte Morton got wounded by the same bullet. Very quiet day. 4 Wed The Huns brought up an armoured train and bombarded our front line, but no damage. 5 Th A very quiet day also the night time. But a German sniper still pots along these lines somewhere. 6 Fri D Coy made a raid on the Huns trenches but done no good having five casualties. 7 Sat Got relieved from firing line by 3rd Batt and we took their place back in reserve. Mem Reserve trenches are about a hundred yards behind the line, a strong position. 
9 Mon The same as usual, went out pinching wood for parapet work and fire steps. 10 Tu Still parapet making and building trench up. Old Fritz sent over a terrible lot of bombs. 11 Wed Pay day in the trenches. We cleaned up the gun and all magazines ready to move out. 12 Th Got relieved from trenches by the 15th Battalion and came back to our rest camp. 13 Fri Went into Pomperinghe for a bath before dinner. After tea went over to Rineshelst to a concert held by ACA. 14 Sat Left Pomperinghe and marched to Steenvvoorde, about 10 miles, a very large place. Had a good Mem look around the town but only stopped there one night. Off again next morning. 
16 Mon Left Rubrouck and marched to Nort-Leulinghem about 13 miles, my feet and ankles were very sore. We are stopping here 17 Tue for a few days. Rifle inspection after breakfast. Bought a MG? for my coat. We also had plenty of rum. 18 Wed Same as usual bayonet fighting and rifle exercises, also musketry exercises. 19 Th A very wet and cold day. Had no drill but went for a route march. A slight fall of hailstones. 20 Fri Left Nort-Leulinghem and marched to St Omer. Had a few hours there before we got in 21 Sat train. Then took train to Longpre`. Unloaded transports and marched to Brucamps about 8 Mem miles. A very cold place ice all along the road. I very nearly froze, my feet and hands were perished. 
23 Mon Left Argoeuves and marched behind transport to a camp just near Albert passing through Amiens 26 miles. 24 Tu Left the camp near Albert and marched to another camp closer to the firing. 25 Wed Went over and got M.G. and magazines and cleaned them up. A very wet day. 26 Th A little brighter but still misty. Plenty of balloons and aeroplanes up. Fritz sent over a few shells. 27 Fri A very miserable day - lazed in dugout all day. In the evening we were shifted out of our dugout and put in a tent. 28 Sat The rain has cleared up but the wind is very cold. Got issued with yellow patches to put Mem on our backs. Expect to go to the trenches in a day or two. Cleaned up the machine gun. 
30 Mon Made new dugouts, but are terribly wet. Went over to a small village to get some timber. 31 Tu Went on fatigue up to the firing line, about 2 miles. In the evening moved up into firing lines, mud up to our knees. Nov 1 Wed Spent a terrible night. I very nearly died with the wet and cold. Mud up to our knees all the time. 2 Th Got relieved from firing line last night and marched back to reserves, about 1 1/2 miles. 3 Fri Got issued with iron rations and flares. We are camped near a small ruined village called Flers. The shells are terrible. 4 Sat Still in the same place, a very heavy bombardment. went up to front line and charged across to Fritz's trenches Mem but were driven back with heavy losses. Four out of the M.G. were wounded and one missing. Charged 12 oclock Nov 4. |
|
