All posts by Arthur Linfoot

6 November 1915; Saturday

November 1915, , , , ,

Got up at 9 o’clock. Walked down to the office1 about 12 o’clock. Saw all but Oliver and Mr Aitken. Oliver has enlisted in the Royal Engineers and is at the War Office. George to be married next Wednesday. Edward leaving to go to Fourstones2. Didn’t see Mr Aitken. Walked round the town with Joe in the afternoon. Played the piano a bit. Mrs Wiseman and Co. to tea. Went down and saw Willie Wanless.

  1. “The office”: Hendon Paper Mill, where ALL had been employed prior to joining the RAMC. See Sunderland map. ↩

  2. “Fourstones” refers to another paper mill (marked on map) near a village of the same name, between Hexham and Haydon Bridge on the river South Tyne. The Edward mentioned in this diary entry evidently planned to take up employment there.

    Unlike the Hendon Paper Mill, Fourstones Paper Mill remains a thriving business to this day. ↩

4 November 1915; Thursday

November 1915, , , ,

Busy as usual. Corporal Collins didn’t return until last thing. Went into town and left a note with the coroner1, who stood me a drink. Went to the guild meeting at the UMC and afterwards to Mrs Kyle’s to supper. Greece Neutral Ministry defeated2. Got pass through3.

Received letter from Charlie at Salonica4.

  1. Coroner: odd shorthand, if the transcription is correct; if so, it would perhaps relate to Corporal Lightbody’s accident (see 1 November), though we do not otherwise know that this was fatal. ↩

  2. “Greece Neutral Ministry defeated”: Possibly a reference to the the Greek Prime Minister’s decision to invite allied forces to set up a base at Salonika despite King Constantine’s insistence on Greek neutrality, although this had happened around a month earlier than this diary entry. The Salonika force was formed partly by forces withdrawn from the Gallipoli campaign, which probably explains Charlie’s presence there (see final note below). See also Greece during World War I at Wikipedia. ↩

  3. “Got pass through”: ALL had, evidently successfully, applied for a second home leave. ↩

  4. As emerges later in the diary, Charlie (fortunately) did not arrive in the Eastern Mediterranean until after the decision to abandon the Gallipoli expedition, though the last Allied troops did not leave Gallipoli until 9 January 1916. Charlie spent the rest of the War in Salonika (now the more usual spelling of Salonica), Egypt, Palestine and thereabouts. ↩

3 November 1915; Wednesday

November 1915,

Usual work. Drew rations. Busy all day. Stayed in at night. Received word from home that Ernie had taken the King’s 1/-­1.

  1. ‘Taking the King’s shilling’ was an 18th/19th century expression meaning ‘enlisting in the Army (or Navy)’ – completing the contract by accepting a token payment; by 1915, a semi-­jocular expression except in boys’ adventure stories. ↩

31 October 1915; Sunday

October 1915,

Up at 7 o’clock. Paraded for church, but we were dismissed through rain. Went with Green to the Presbyterian church and enjoyed the service. Spoke to a few UMC friends at the Y.M1.

  1. “Y.M.”: common abbreviation for “Y.M.C.A.”, Young Men’s Christian Association. “UMC” (if correct) might be “United Methodist Church. ↩