Up at 6 o’clock. On parade all day. Worked on the incinerator all day. Got it easy in the afternoon. Walked into town at night and watched some girls making lace. Very interesting. Stanton had two parcels, so I bought some bread, and we asked Leaky and Duggins to join us and had a nice supper. Cocoa, salmon, fresh butter and bread.
Received news of the Italian successes.
Up at 6 o’clock and went to draw rations with Stanton and Leaky. Some trouble and delay with the breakfast. Cleaned up and wrote up diary. Further news of big Allied successes. Orderly man today and did very little. Went out at night. Met some village girls by a farm near the C section hospital and talked to them a short time with Sergeant Jenkins and Duggins.
Up at 7 o’clock. On fatigue in the morning cleaning waggons and in the afternoon at a hospital across the village which is to be run by C section. Duggins ordered across as orderly. Worked a bit after tea, until about 6.30. A band played in the village beside the church. Among some reinforcements just arrived is one of the Newcastle Alnwick boys. Had walk in the village. Bought some loaves for supper and had good supper. No bread issue today. Received orders to be orderly man tomorrow.
Up at 9 o’clock. Had breakfast and received orders to have dinner at 11.30 and fall in <in> full marching order at 12 o’clock. Marched off shortly after 12 o’clock. Crossed Belgian Frontier and arrived at the village of [space – probably intended to be filled in later when name known] 1 about 2 o’clock. Duggins, Corporal Stanton and I made a bivouac together. Very nice place. Don’t know what the future holds. Walked into village at night. Found out we could buy all sorts of things including newspapers and that most of the people talk marvellous† English. Bought some milk at a farm. Weather hot all the time.
News of Battle at Suez2.
Heard Last Post blown and it sounded fine. Gas alarm at night.
According to ALL’s own 1976 transcription, the village was Westoutre, now Westouter. ↩
“Battle at Suez”: Probably the Battle of Romani (3-5 August 1916), the last ground attack of the Central Powers on the Suez Canal at the beginning of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign during the First World War. ↩
Reveille at 4 o’clock. Breakfast 4.30. Fell in at 6 and marched off. Arrived at Longpré about 8 o’clock. Train left about 10. We had choice of 3rd class carriage or cattle truck and chose truck. Passed through Boulogne and St Omer. One of our mules jumped out of the carriage at Boulogne and was run over in tunnel. Arrived at Baileul1 about 9 o’clock. Took waggons off the rail trucks in the dark. One of the horses got in a ditch and was in about half an hour. Marched off about 10 o’clock. Had one rest. Terribly tired and sleepy. Arrived at a farm and put up there for the night. About midnight when we got there. Slept on straw in a barn and slept well.
Baileul: ALL always omits one ‘l’ from ‘Bailleul’ in his longhand; the transcription follows this, but where he writes it in shorthand, ie phonetically, it is transcribed with the correct spelling. Bailleul is 16km SW of Ypres. The map shows the entire journey from Longpré (A), through Boulogne (B) and Saint-Omer (C) to Bailleul (D). ↩
Up at 7 o’clock. Field service at 11 o’clock and preaching good. Went up by the new little church in the afternoon and commenced reading “List, Ye Landsmen!” by Clark Russell1. Beautiful day and beautiful scenery. Had short walk at night with Duggins. Wrote up diary. Turned in about 9 o’clock. Orders to be up at 4 o’clock in the morning.
William Clark Russell (1844-1911); writer of sea and horror stories. List, Ye Landsmen! (subtitled “A Romance of Incident”) is a seafaring adventure set in the year 1815. See also List, Ye Landsmen! and Arthur Linfoot’s Library. ↩
List, Ye Landsmen! is a novel by William Clarke Russell, written in 1894.
William Fielding, first officer of the ‘Royal Brunswicker’, is returning to his ship after visiting his uncle in the Channel port town of Deal. Fate intervenes and Fielding never reaches his post, instead becoming entangled in a series of adventures aboard the ‘Black Watch’. These take him far across the oceans and test him both as a man and a sailor.
Arthur Linfoot wrote that he had started to read List, Ye Landsmen! on 6 August 1916.
Up at 7 o’clock. Did nothing all day. Had boots repaired in the afternoon. Wrote some letters. Went to a little town called Flixecourt1 with Corporal Stanton and Duggins. Beautiful night. Had a feed of chips and eggs. Enjoyed walk back. Thought of home in the pleasant melancholy of the evening. Wonderful scenery and the woods and corn fields were lovely in the setting sun.
Flixecourt (A): 5km SE of Vauchelles-lès-Domart (B), on the D1001 between Abbeville and Amiens. ↩
Up at 7 o’clock. Had restless night owing to Duggins pulling the things off me. Did nothing all day but write a few letters. Walked round village at night. Stiff and tired from yesterday’s march. Very hot weather and fine.
Up at 5.30. Breakfast at 6 o’clock. I was told off for a waggon. Put my kit up a motor ambulance and went with it to take some Worcesters† to Méricourt Station. Made our lot up and was told to follow them. Went back to Laviéville, got a pack and hurried to Mericourt Stn1 with the others. Entrained then in cattle truck at 10 o’clock. Passed through Amiens. Arrived Longpré about 1.30. Set off to march in the wrong direction. Marched for about 3 hours in the sun and was very much fagged out. Washed feet and legs. Terribly dusty and had a bruise under my right heel. Billeted in a field in a bivouac along with Duggins. Walked round village (Vauchelle2) at night. Had two eggs at one house and a feed at another.
Méricourt-l’Abbé (A) has a railway station where ALL could have boarded a train to pass through Amiens as he describes and travel on to Longpré-les-Corps-Saints (B). ↩
Assuming that Longpré is Longpré-les-Corps-Saints (where ALL had been on 8 June, a week or so after arriving in France), and taking the 3 hours’ march on 3 August into account, “Vauchelle” would seem to be Vauchelles-lès-Domart, 7km NE of Longpré (C); there is also a Vauchelles-lès-Quesnoy (D), on the outskirts of Abbeville (and a Vauchelles-lès-Authie, between Doullens and Albert, as well as a plain Vauchelles near Noyon.) ↩