Got up 8 o’clock. Breakfast and paraded at 9.15. Marched back to trenches. Went up about 12 o’clock. Arrived about 2.30 after being shelled on the way up. Waited a bit and then came down with a walking case. Had some tea. Very heavy shelling on both sides. Turned out bright and fine. Trenches in fearful condition and I was wet through all the way in wading up and down again. Scraped off clay but horribly wet. More bodies in the trench than last time I was up and a bad smell. Man in stretcher squad in front of us lost his nerve for a few minutes but recovered again all right. I felt ever so fit and quite happy. Arrived at dressing station. Was sent back with some walking cases. Got up to the waist in watery mud and took off boots and scraped trousers after getting to the dressing station. Squads formed up again at night and returned about midnight. Went across the open. Had to fall flat several times on account of Germans’ star shells and snipers and * * * [too faint to read].
All posts by Arthur Linfoot
4 July 1916; Tuesday
This is an extract from Arthur Linfoot’s own transcription of his diary, written in 1976.
Marched off at about 2 o’clock and back to Albert. First went to main dressing station and then taken to lie down by a wall on the ground. Paddy Graham and I lay together and shared a ground sheet. Took nothing off – not even boots – too tired. Immediately commenced to rain heavily. Wet through. Capt. Johnson came and took us to a stable full of vehicles which had not been in use from the start of the war. Everything filthy. I found a two wheeled trap leaning forward on its shafts and sat on the seat with my legs out in front. Went to sleep for hours. Woke up stiff and filthy with cobwebs. Had good feed of biscuits. Sent field postcard home. Received parcel with cakes in it. Rained heavily. Lot of men had German helmets. A rat ran up my shirt sleeve as I leaned out of barn window writing up diary. Wash and shave; first since Friday. Heard that 10,000 walking cases and 1,000 stretcher cases had been treated by our main dressing station in Albert. Went to sleep in badly damaged estaminet on red tiled floor. One man slept on billiard table and said cloth made it softer.
4 July 1916; Tuesday
Marched off about 2 o’clock. Back to Albert. Received tea at our hospital and then were taken to lie down by wall. Paddy Graham and I went together. It started to rain heavily. We got very wet. Captain Johnson came for us and took us to an old stable. I found a cab and lay curled up in it all night. Trousers wet and ground sheet soaked through. Just took off puttees and boots. Had good feeds of biscuits. Sent field postcard home. Received parcel with some cakes in. Rained heavily most of the day. A lot of men had German helmets. A rat ran up my sleeve as I leaned out of the barn window writing up my diary. Received first wash <and> shave since Friday. Heard that 10 thousand walking and 1 thousand stretcher cases and 80 German cases had been treated at our hospital. Went to bed in a broken down wine shop. Two fellows slept on billiard table. Washed feet in bucket. Slept well. Got *.
3 July 1916; Monday
This is an extract from Arthur Linfoot’s own transcription of his diary, written in 1976.
Led by Sgt. Brown. A heap of 8 or 10 bodies lay like sardines in a sap next to the dugout door. Our squad got last man from the dugout. A man on heap of dead with piece out of his skull still alive, so next squad brought him down to dressing station. Went back from dressing station with Sgt. Brown. Lot of wounded. Stretcher squad had been blown to pieces in trench. We walked over mutilated bodies, with the stretcher. Man with genitals blown off. Infantry still advancing. Heavy fighting and gunfire in front. Heard that Sgt. More and two privates had gone down with shell shock. Dead beginning to smell badly. Got orders to return to dressing station. Saw a man on a stretcher who had gone insane. Saw a German . . . . . . . (cannot read) Joined Bill Jolly (Welsh boxer) and two B section men and went up to aid post. Very heavy shelling just in front and Jolly and one man lost nerve. Persuaded them to go on. Found N.F. sgt. with big wound in thigh who had been in a funk hole since first attack. Brought him down. Trench blown in just in front of us. Sheltered in small sap until shelling eased off. Had drink of tea. Fell in again and went up with Sgt. Brown. About 70 squads ( ? bearers surely ? ) . Lot of wounded. Water in trench. A sap full of water with several dead in it. Water pink. One of our snipers near me had his right thumb blown off by a German sniper. “He saw me first”. he said. Dressed his thumb with my 1st field dressing.
3 July 1916; Monday
I fell in with Jolly and other two. Got lost in trench again. Were shelled and had some very near escapes. Jolly and another chap wanted to go back and dump the stretcher. The other men and I won. Found a N.F.1 in a dugout, been there since first charge. Brought him down. Parapet blown in a few yards in front. Very narrow escape. Went back to dugout and waited until bombardment ceased. Brought him down safely. Had to drop out. Fell in again and went up with Sergeant Brown. A lot of wounded and about 70 squads helped. Piles of dead men fearfully mutilated in the trench. Had to step over them with the stretcher. Man on our stretcher had privates shot off. Still advancing slowly. Awful heavy bombardment by our guns. Sergeant More and two privates’ nerve broke down. Received orders to return. Waited until nearly midnight. Lying on the side of the road †commenced first aid for a man with a thumb gone† in his hand. Saw some German prisoners [continued at top of 4 July page – ] Used part of field dressing to bandage man’s hand, injured with explosive dart. Too many things to note.
“N.F.”: Northumberland Fusiliers; the 4 battalions of the Tyneside Irish formed the 102nd Brigade, and the 4 battalions of the Tyneside Scottish formed the 103rd Brigade; these, with the 101st Brigade, formed the 34th Division. The 102nd Brigade was the body specifically designated to capture La Boisselle (see 1 July.) The 102nd and 103rd Brigades sustained higher casualties than any other brigade in the first assault. ↩
2 July 1916; Sunday
This is an extract from Arthur Linfoot’s own transcription of his diary, written in 1976.
Left the road for a communication trench. Left our skeleton equipment at an aid post and were given two shell dressings each. Moved up the trench in single file led by the guide. Trench full of men: reinforcements, carriers of ammunition, rations, and water. Others coming down. Progress desperately slow. Guide lost his way three times and we had to move back. Machine gun and sniper fire and just about dawn we crossed No Man’s Land and entered a trench just captured where one of our regimental M.Os. was attending men in a dugout. We were given a man with a compound fracture of left tibia. Germans now shelling our front line heavily and we had to wait until they eased off. Trench a sea of mud here. Most difficult to get loaded stretcher down trench, especially round traverses. Took ages. Were nearly down when regimental stretcher bearer followed us and asked us to go back with him. Found several wounded unable to walk and carried them back to aid post. (No idea of time: now dark again.) Gas alarm and we had to wear masks. Lay down for a rest. Very heavy bombardment and heavy fighting in front. (some lead pencil marks too faint to read.) Sgt. Brown took several squads of bearers and led us out of front line trench on to open ground. Green flares going up all round. Crawled close to ground with machine gun bullets just overhead. Troops in trench (9th Welsh I believe) ready to go over at dawn. Noise, confusion and darkness. Led to a waterlogged empty trench and waited there until dawn in a few inches of water. At dawn collected stretcher cases at a German dugout just captured.
2 July 1916; Sunday
Were lost in trench all night. Passed through front line trenches where Cheshires and Welsh1 regiments were waiting to go over the top. After being under fire by a machine gun (and seeing many retreats†) we found our way to the dugout aid post. Germans shelling2, so we had to wait. Finally got a case. Took us until 5 o’clock to get it down through mud and crowded trenches. Had to wait for so long until Germans stopped shelling communication trench. Were nearly down when a regimental stretcher bearer followed us and asked us to go back. 3 went back and took over the stretcher. Lay about most of afternoon very much done up. No regular meals, only snatches of biscuits and cheese. Ordered to fall in at night. Frightened us a bit and Leaky suggested staying back. Orders about 3 o’clock to stand up with gas helmets. Lay down again. Met stretcher squads. Lay on side of trench part of the morning. Very heavy bombardment and fighting in front. Distances confusing.
[This (2 July) and the adjoining pages are very difficult to read. Along the bottom edge of the 2 July page there has been a further line of shorthand, even fainter and more smudged than the rest of these pages. The words “time”, “distance” and “making” may be there, but nothing else can even be guessed.]
ALL’s own records say that the 58th Field Ambulance was in the 57th Brigade. The 9th Cheshires, the 9th Welch and the 9th Royal Welch Fusiliers were also in the 19th Division, but in the 58th Brigade. ↩
“Germans shelling”: whereas the British artillery barrage had as pre-arranged extended its range as soon as the first infantry attack began, so as to leave the first lines of German trenches clear for the British infantry (whose progress, if any, was however much slower than foreseen, thus giving the Germans time to emerge with their machine guns before the British infantry got there), the German artillery fire was concentrated on No Man’s Land as soon as the British infantry entered it. In readiness for this, the German field batteries had delayed firing during the British preliminary barrage, thus escaping observation (and avoiding getting shelled themselves), and reassuring the British Staff that they had been silenced by the British barrage. ↩
1 July 1916; Saturday
This is an extract from Arthur Linfoot’s own transcription of his diary, written in 1976.
Lay awake with the cold. Dozed off a few times. About 6 o’clock awoke with the tremendous heavy firing of guns and big shells passing flying overhead. Stood by our billets and watched troops moving up. (the Albert – Bapaume road). Had breakfast of cheese, biscuits and margarine and tea.
Received our orders and then returned to dugouts. Bombardment continued. Lincolns moved off and captured first line (we heard). Desperate fighting going on. 8th Division has lost about half its strength. Watched German aeroplane being shelled by our guns. Heavy batteries behind us pounding away all day. Even horse ambulances full of wounded galloping back down the Bapaume Road. Told to turn in at 10 p.m. and almost immediately received orders to go up the line. Some uncertainty about orders then marched off after about twenty minutes. In Albert about 30 minutes later. (Now quite dark.) Were given steel helmets at our main dressing station in Albert, taken from casualties. All very bewildering noise with two 15” howitzers in Albert firing as quickly as they could. Marched out of Albert up the road. In the fields on either side massed British field guns and French 75s and behind us massed heavies. All blazing away. Scores of green flares dancing in the sky before us with occasional red flares calling for support. Terrific noise and real Bedlam. Utter confusion.
1 July 1916; Saturday
Awoke with the cold. Dozed off a few times. About 6 o’clock awoke with tremendous heavy fire and big shells flying overhead1. Watched troops moving up. Had breakfast. Cheese, biscuits and butter and tea. Received orders and then returned to the dugouts. Bombardment continued. Lincolns2 moved off first and captured first line. Reported that desperate fighting is going on and that the 8 Division has lost half of its strength. Watched German aeroplanes being shelled. Batteries behind us pounding away all day. Lay in dugouts all day. Beautiful day. Didn’t wash or shave all day. Used unique latrines. Watched wounded walking and riding back. Turned in about 10 o’clock and immediately received orders to go up. Fell in in 20 minutes and marched off. Sat near the church in Albert about 30 minutes , received shrapnel helmets and then marched off. Terrific bombardment going on and the sky lit up with flares and guns. Left equipment at aid post and marched up trench.
This was of course the start of the battle of the Somme. For those unfamiliar with what happened in the first few days of the battle, I venture to offer a brief outline on this page. ↩
“Lincolns”: these may have been the 2nd Lincolns (in the 8th Division), or more probably the 10th Lincolns (in the 34th Division.) Both these divisions were in III Corps, which in turn was in the 4th Army (under Gen. Rawlinson.) ↩
30 June 1916; Friday
This is an extract from Arthur Linfoot’s own transcription of his diary, written in 1976.
(This and the next few days written from memory when we left the Line for a rest. It was all very confusing and we lost all sense of time.)
Up at 7 o’clock and we went up the bank for breakfast as usual. Lovely summer morning and we were aware of the contrast between the peaceful country scene behind us and the war a mile or two in front of us to the East. Received orders for stretcher bearers of B and C sections (I was in C) to go up the line tonight. Paraded in the afternoon and given two extra iron rations (3 altogether) and handed in our packs (valises) to the quartermaster’s store. A perfect June evening. Had a meal at 8.30. I read 23rd Psalm and a chapter from St. John’s Gospel. Detailed off in bearer squads and I was with Paddy Graham, Duggins and Leaky. Paraded in the farmyard. Getting dark; intensely exciting; very quiet. As we stood on parade a troop of cavalry passed through the village street, sabres hanging down sides of horses. Very dramatic and encouraging. Our brigade (57th Infantry) passed through the village and we joined them at about 10 p.m. Progress terribly slow due to congestion of masses of troops on narrow road. Frequent and long halts. Welshmen in our Division sang quietly most of the way. No sound from the guns tonight. Only one gun spoke out at long intervals. Paddy and I carried our stretcher most of the way. Reminded me of the book “The Invasion of 1910”. Lay down beside a broken down barn for a short time. Reached assembly trenches about midnight.