Up about 7 o’clock. Not much to do all day. Wrote letter home. Put on guard at night. Aeroplanes over at night and I had to use the whistle. Got down to it1 about 11 o’clock.
“Got down to it”: Lay down to sleep. ↩
Monthly Archives: April 2018
19 April 1918; Friday
Up at 8 o’clock. Bright but cold morning. The bearers and people came down the line. Jerry bombing at night and kept us awake.
18 April 1918; Thursday
Up about 7 o’clock. Harry Bascombe and Brooksbank wounded and a new man called Stephens1 killed first thing in the morning. Heard that the Division will probably be going out shortly. Walked along to Y M and back again at night. Very cold. Slept with Billy Truman again.
84505 Private James Stephens of the 58th Field Ambulance. Buried at Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, about 4km SW. of Poperinghe. ↩
17 April 1918; Wednesday
Up about 7 o’clock. Did practically nothing all day. A tremendous lot of French troops about. Heard that we are holding our own. The Germans shelled Westouter in the morning and our people had cleared† out of† the convent. Some civilians killed and wounded. A very hot time for the people in the town. Some of our bearers went up again at night.
16 April 1918; Tuesday
Up at 7 o’clock. Moved off to a C C S 1 place behind Poperinghe2 about 10 and arrived at dinnertime. Rested all day and slept well at night. Very heavy fighting all day. Beare†, Nelson, Watson and Gray came down gassed slightly. Heard that Sergeant Watson had been killed within 12 hours of joining us.
15 April 1918; Monday
At camp behind Reningelst. Had pretty good night’s sleep. Nothing to do all day. Put on guard at night from 6 to 10. Lot of French troops passing through. Had good night.
14 April 1918; Sunday
[Written at top of page above date: “Very wonderful escape and slightly wounded.”]
Awake a fair part of the night. A 4.2 shell came through the roof of the hut above Ben Jenkins, passed over my body and burst a yard off my face. Blew our side of the hut to pieces. Killed MacDermot and Slade† and wounded Belloc†, Ned Phillips, Ben Jenkins and myself very slightly. A piece of shrapnel halfway through my valise under my head1. My equipment and clothing blown up. Wonderful escape. †Felt unwell† in the afternoon. Included† at La Clyte. Wrote home to expound things. Jerry still advancing. At the Y M service at night and enjoyed it. Moved off to another camp2 at night. Slightly wounded.
ALL had written about another piece of shrapnel, recovered from the shoulder of a patient on 26 July 1916, which ALL subsequently kept as a souvenir. While the shrapnel mentioned today would have been a more significant souvenir, ALL makes no mention in the diary or elsewhere of having retained it. However, that fragment might conceivably be the one depicted on the 26 July 1916 entry, if not the one recovered from ALL’s patient that day. ↩
“Another camp”: apparently also near Reninghelst. ↩
13 April 1918; Saturday
12 April 1918; Friday
Up most of the night. Moved off from Kemmel about 7 o’clock in a car. Did nothing at Vierstraat and got down to it and slept good part of the day. Up for tea and orders to move at night again. Received letter and papers from home. News in the papers more encouraging. Packed up and marched off from Vierstraat at about 10 o’clock at night and arrived at Reningelst road1 about midnight. Went into Nissen hut in a camp there.
“Reningelst road”: assumed to be near Reninghelst (C). The map shows the entire journey, starting from Kemmel (A) and going via Vierstraat (B). ↩
11 April 1918; Thursday
Ordered to pack up at 3 am and move back to Vierstraat and slept on the floor in the dugout. Did nothing all day. Put on duty at night. Moved off very hurriedly by 9 pm to little Kemmel and opened up again. Not much to do at night.