All posts by Arthur Linfoot

30 July 1916; Sunday

July 1916, , , ,

Up at 7 o’clock. Had breakfast. Marched down to the horse lines. Made big shelter with the big waggon sheet and the waggons. Hot day. Very tired. Finished writing little story. Germans shelled heavily to the right and left of us with big stuff. After tea a few squads went up in reserve to the 59th and the remainder of us came back to the château near Fricourt12. Told to be ready to fall in and go up the line any time. Slept with only Lavere again.

Gas alarm at night.

  1. Fricourt: This is the first time ALL mentions Fricourt by name although this château was very probably the same one mentioned on 7th July and again on several occasions since. Fricourt is between Albert and Mametz, about 2km from latter; map sq. I 7/8 in Michelin. The map accompanying this post shows the approximate location of the château. ↩

  2. Fricourt had been a salient in the German front line prior to July 1916 and was taken by the British on 1-2 July. It was presumably during this fighting that the château was ruined. ↩

29 July 1916; Saturday

1976

This is an extract from Arthur Linfoot’s own transcription of his diary, written in 1976.

Slept well and up at 8 o’clock. Marched up to the big Canadian dugout and on from there to our advanced dressing station at 8 o’clock. Built bivouac in the big open dugout. Dealt with five stretcher cases and a few walking cases from artillery nearby. Lay down about 4 a.m. but slept badly owing to the noise of our guns and a few German shells. Felt depressed and “windy”. With Bascombe all day.

29 July 1916; Saturday

July 1916, ,

Slept well. Up shortly after 5 o’clock. Marched up but stayed at the big Canadian dugouts. Went to A.D. station at 8 o’clock. Stayed all night. Built bivouac in the big open dugout. With the stretcher cases and a few walking cases from artillery. Didn’t get down until about 4 o’clock and then slept badly from noise of guns and German shelling. Felt a bit “windy”. Bascombe with me.

28 July 1916; Friday

1976

This is an extract from Arthur Linfoot’s own transcription of his diary, written in 1976.

Up at about 5 o’clock after sleeping very little. Walked to and fro to keep warm. Saw a small book lying on the salvage dump (stuff taken off dead and wounded) outside aid post. It was a New Testament and on the flyleaf was written , “Read a verse every day and God will keep you safe. Mind you say your prayers. Loving Mother.” In the grey dawn it was depressing. Moved back to old bivouac near Chateau. Weather fine. Had a bath in horse bucket. Letter from Sandwith. Turned in about nine o’clock.

28 July 1916; Friday

July 1916, , ,

Up about 5 o’clock. After sleeping very little. Read inscription in Testament on a heap of woundeds’ equipment, From your loving mother Dear Will read a verse every day and God will keep you safe. Mind you say your prayers.

Marched back to near the chateau and went to our old bivouacs. Weather still fine. Had bath in a horse bucket. Felt better after it. Newspapers from home and letter from Sandwith. Went to bed about 9 o’clock.

27 July 1916; Thursday

1976

This is an extract from Arthur Linfoot’s own transcription of his diary, written in 1976.

Had an egg for breakfast then we proceeded up to some dugouts, German, where there were places with long underground tunnels. Some Canadians in them and one of them sat and told us yarns. They were making a new (corduroy) road1 over recently [?gained] ground. Ordered up the line at 5 o’clock and went to Capt. King’s dressing station at the chalk quarry. Nothing for us to do. Sat about in the cold all night. Managed to scrape about two hours sleep. Felt very miserable and “funky”. Not many German shells over but our guns bombarded fearfully all night and the noise was deafening in the quarry. 6th Black Watch cut up badly in the reserve trenches. Lavere and I tried and failed to build a shelter against splinters. Very cold. Wrapped myself in an overcoat and ground sheet I found on the aid post dump to try to keep warm. Seven dead men lying side by side on stretchers at the aid post.

  1. A corduroy road is a type of road made by placing sand-covered logs perpendicular to the direction of the road. ↩

27 July 1916; Thursday

July 1916,

Had egg for breakfast then proceeded up to some dugouts near the A.D.S.1 Wonderful places with some long tunnels underground. Some Canadians in them and one sat and told stories. Were ordered up the line at 5 o’clock. Went to Captain King’s dressing station. Nothing for us to do. Sat in the cold all night and managed to scrape about 2 hours sleep. Felt pretty miserable and funky all night. Very few German shells over, but our guns bombarded fearfully all night and the noise nearly deafened us. The 6th Black Watch2 cut up a good lot in the reserve trenches. Lavere and I built a shelter, and then the side fell in and pinned me until I got Lavere to lift off the packs. 7 dead men lying on stretchers outside the aid post. Wrapped myself up in a wounded soldier’s overcoat and ground sheet. Kept awake with, *, guns, *, lice, German shells and nowhere to lie.

  1. “A.D.S.”: advanced dressing station. ↩

  2. The Black Watch’s own (on-line) newsletter says that their 6th (Perthshire) battalion was in the central sector at the Somme, but does not give dates. However according to information gathered from the Aberfeldy Museum by a correspondent to whom we are grateful, the 6th Black Watch had arrived at the Somme battlefield shortly after 20 July, and as ALL records, suffered considerable casualties. ↩

26 July 1916; Wednesday

1976

This is an extract from Arthur Linfoot’s own transcription of his diary, written in 1976.

Got a piece of shrapnel out of the shoulder of a Y. & L soldier. Stayed up until about 1.30 a.m. and slept until about 7 o’clock. Had good night though Germans sent over gas shells after a while. Were relieved at 8 o’clock and marched down to about the dressing station then on to billets near the chateau. After calling at ASC park got to know that a big munitions dump had been fired and that Sergeant Jones had been killed and Sergeant Brown wounded at about 8 o’clock. Two men had been gassed the night before and five men had gone down the line. Fine day. Returned to old billet with Lavere. Heard that Ted Trim (stretcher bearer) had been awarded the DCM on 2nd July. Parcel from home and letter from Joe. Had eggs, brown bread and butter for tea.

26 July 1916; Wednesday

July 1916, , , , ,

Got piece of shrapnel out of the L & Y & L1 shoulder2. Stayed up until 1.30, then lay down until about 7 o’clock. Had quiet night although the Germans sent over gas shells all the while. Were relieved at 8 o’clock. Marched down to dressing station, then to the billets near the château, after calling at an Army Service park. Got to know a big ammunition dump had been fired. Sergeant Jones killed and Sergeant Brown wounded about 8 o’clock. 2 men gassed the night before and a few men down the line. Fine day. Returned to old billets with Lavere. A dead German buried in the side of the trench and his foot sticking out and smelled horribly. Got to know a day or two ago that Ted Trim had got a DCM3 on July 2nd. Received parcel from home and letter from Joe. Had eggs and brown bread and butter to tea.

Two pieces of trench art (the matchbox cover engraved "The Great War"; the paper- knife engraved "Albert", and "Ancre" on the reverse; the handle is a spent .303 cartridge, for a Lee Enfield rifle or a Lewis machine-gun); and a piece of shrapnel preserved by ALL (exact origin not known but possibly related to the July 26 diary entry).
Two pieces of trench art (the matchbox cover engraved “The Great War”; the paper- knife engraved “Albert”, and “Ancre” on the reverse; the handle is a spent .303 cartridge, for a Lee Enfield rifle or a Lewis machine-gun); and a piece of shrapnel preserved by ALL (exact origin not known but possibly related to the July 26 diary entry).

  1. Y & L: ALL first wrote “L & Y”, but corrected this to “Y & L”: the 8th and 9th Battalions of the Yorkshire & Lancashire Regiment were in 70th Brigade, 8th Division – not the 34th or 19th Division, but nevertheless in the central sector of the front. ↩

  2. ALL wrote in his more detailed 1976 narrative that he had kept this piece of shrapnel as a souvenir – possibly though by no means certainly the one in the illustration accompanying this entry. ↩

  3. “DCM”: the Distinguished Conduct Medal was for Other Ranks; officers got the Distinguished Service Cross. ↩

25 July 1916; Tuesday

1976

This is an extract from Arthur Linfoot’s own transcription of his diary, written in 1976.

Slept badly owing to “chats”1 and a big naval gun. Up at 6 o’clock. Marched off to Capt. Johnson’s for breakfast and got it there. Marched off about 7.30 to the trenches. Our squad (Bascombe, Houghton, Hall and me) at the aid post (German dugout) near Bazentin Wood. Expected a few light wounds and sick cases. About 9 o’clock at night a man walked in with an ugly shrapnel wound in his shoulder, a man with his skull smashed and one with a knee wound besides smaller cases. Carried the worst down to the dressing station in the chalk quarry on the road. Germans had been shelling all day but stopped while we went down with these cases. Had two cases of shell shock all day. Very heavy journey down with the stretchers; dark, heavy ground (battered out of shape by countless holes and three men to a stretcher) Sergeant Fraser and Hall joined us and they took a string of walking wounded down to the quarry aid post and went into a German gas barrage. I stayed up until 1.30. All quiet – went to sleep.

(Note: a dead German buried on his face in the wall of the trench near the entrance to the deep dugout we were using as an aid post near Bazentin Wood had only his left leg from the knee downwards and his right foot sticking out of the side of the trench. In the dark we knew when we had reached our dugout by feeling this stiff sticking out leg.)

  1. “Chats”: Lice. ↩