Monthly Archives: June 2016

8 June 1916; Thursday

June 1916,

Arrived Longpré1 and told this is end of our train ride. Had a wash at the engine-filling water crane. Got on to motorcars at about 3 o’clock and arrived at dumping place about 5 o’clock. Walked to ADMS2 office and were detailed off for Hallencourt3. Arrived about 6 o’clock. Had a drink of tea. (Had our rations for tea on the road side.) Were told off to sleep in a barn with the other chaps. Walked to the close† village – Vignacourt4 .

First impressions not very good, but hope for better things. Slept fairly well.

  1. Longpré: Probably Longpré-les-Corps-Saints (A on the map marks the location of the railway station there); 14km SE of Abbeville, on D3; ref D7; written in shorthand, but can’t be anything else; this Longpré is the only one in the gazetteer of the Michelin map (see editorial note on Michelin map), but the nature of the overnight rail journey makes it impossible to confirm it by estimating its distance from Rouen. Consequently there is no way of confirming my transcription (Vignacourt) of the nearby village. The camp with the ADMS office was apparently 2 hours by motor transport from Longpré, but with the primitive nature of both transport and roads, the distance may not have been great. ↩

  2. “ADMS”: probably Assistant Director of Medical Services. ↩

  3. Hallencourt (B): transcription uncertain – but Hallencourt is in the right area – 8km WSW of Longpré-les-Corps-Saints, ref D8. ↩

  4. Vignacourt (C) [14km NW of Amiens; ref F7] is the only identification I can make, reasonably – or remotely – plausible for the shorthand, for the village adjacent to the camp, and the distance could have been up to 20km before the modern roads were built. Vignacourt could be about the right distance from Rainnecourt (see 16 June); 14km as the crow flies, and there seem to be fairly direct small roads – where ALL says an 8-mile march. (DL)  ↩

7 June 1916; Wednesday

June 1916, ,

Up at 5 o’clock. Breakfast at 9 o’clock.Paraded for gas helmets. Had dinner at 11 o’clock. Paraded squad 11.45. Left some of the men including Green to follow 1.15. Marched down to station. Had a bit bother about getting into the train. Left at 3.50. Train moved very slowly. Stopped at siding place all night and we left the train about 8.30 and got some tea and cake at a canteen. Tried to sleep at night but pretty uncomfortable and cold.

Received news of the loss of Kitchener1 on the Hampshire.

  1. Field-Marshal Earl (Herbert) Kitchener of Khartoum (1850 – 1916): secured Sudan, 1898; Commander-in-Chief, 2nd Boer War, 1900 – 02; Commander-in-Chief, India (1902 – 09; the Viceroy, Lord Curzon, resigned), then Consul-General in Egypt; Secretary of State for War (1914 – 16); was going to Russia for negotiations in the Tyne-built cruiser HMS Hampshire (which had been present at the Battle of Jutland a few days before: see reference on 31 May.) It struck a mine West of Orkney, in bad weather, on 5 June. K’s home was Broome Park, at Denton near Canterbury.  ↩

6 June 1916; Tuesday

June 1916

Up at 5 o’clock. Breakfast at 6 o’clock. Two route marches morning and afternoon. Detailed off for places. Green 12†th Division1 and I to the 19th. All the party hopelessly split up. Walked round camp at night. Said goodbye to Bennett, Metcalfe, Salisbury, Pinkney and one or two more.

  1. This looks something like (figures) 12th, but no 12th Division was there at the start of the Somme (I assume that this RAMC draft had been sent out specially for the build-up of troops for the Somme offensive.) I can’t interpret the characters as shorthand for any of the Divisional numbers which were there. ↩

5 June 1916; Monday

June 1916

Up at 5 o’clock. Breakfast at 6 o’clock. Paraded at 9 o’clock and went on to the Moors parade ground where we were lectured on gas attacks and then passed through a test with the helmets on.1 On route march in the afternoon by the forest. Walked round camp at night. Went to Y.M. Route march in the morning.

  1. Deleted by ALL, presumably entered in wrong day. ↩

3 June 1916; Saturday

June 1916, , ,

Up at 5 o’clock. Breakfast at 6 o’clock. Paraded at 8.45 and went to the big parade ground. Were lectured on gas helmets, given one each, and put through a gas test. Our buttons nicely blackened1. Very interesting. Heavy shower as we sat. Wrote letter to Mr Inwood in the afternoon. Went to lecture by an Indian doctor at night. Went to bed shortly after 9 o’clock.

Received news of North Sea fight2.

  1. “Our buttons nicely blackened”: Following the first use of gas by the Germans at Ypres, a team of scientists was sent to Belgium to find out what gas was being used. They identified chlorine from the way it had discoloured buttons on soldiers’ uniforms. Given the blackening of buttons noted here by ALL, it seems likely that chlorine was also the gas used for this test. ↩

  2. Presumably the news of the Battle of Jutland reaching ALL. ↩

2 June 1916; Friday

June 1916,

Got up about 3 o’clock and watched sunrise. Arrived Rouen 8.151. Left the ship shortly afterwards and marched up to the rest camp number 5. A lot of troops in the camp, including Indian cavalry and all sorts. Met nearly all the Alnwick lads at night, also Martin. Looked round the camp. Everything very interesting. Went to bed about 9 o’clock. Tent rather uncomfortable to lie in. Fine night.

  1. Le Havre (A), Rouen (B) on the map. ↩

1 June 1916; Thursday

June 1916

Got up shortly before 5 o’clock. Got dressed and washed and had breakfast after a struggle. Watched them unload part of the ship. Shaved and lost glass1 over a wheel. Slept a bit. Fine day. Ship terribly dirty.

Arrived Le Havre 2 about 8 o’clock.

Saw French soldiers, German prisoners and a lot of British troops. French coast very fine. Spent whole day on the ship. Had a shave and had ample time. Made our tea and got what we could to eat. Left at about 9 o’clock at night and sailed up the Seine. The town looked pretty from the sea lit up. Lay down on the deck about 10.30.

  1. “Glass”: Probably shaving mirror. ↩

  2. Southampton (A), Le Havre (B) on the map. ↩