Up at about 7.30. On fatigue all day. Finished long letter to Mr Eaves1. Turned in rather late.
Category Archives: January 1918
10 January 1918; Thursday
On guard at 2 o’clock. Called the others up at 7. Chopped wood first thing. On again from 10 to 12 and from 4 to 6. Fritz1 sent over a few whizzbangs2 at night about tea time. Off guard at 6 o’clock. Went to bed soon and slept well.
Dreamed that I was going to marry Mildred Woodruff3. Received long letter from Charlie.
Fritz: a name given to German troops by the British and others in the First and Second World Wars. ↩
Whizzbangs: high-velocity, low-trajectory shells giving only brief audible warning of approach. ↩
Mildred Woodruff: Never mentioned in the diaries other than here. Identity unknown. ↩
9 January 1918; Wednesday
Up about 7.30. On fatigue all day. Wrote long letter to Ernie <as part> of greeting. Put on guard at night. Snowing heavily. Got about 2 hours’ sleep.
8 January 1918; Tuesday
Up about 7.30. On fatigue all day. Felt a bit off form and went to bed early. Received letter from Mother.
The air full of peace talk.
7 January 1918; Monday
Up about 7.30. On fatigue all day. Read a bit and wrote a letter or two. Received parcel from home.
6 January 1918; Sunday
[Three lines of shorthand crossed out – apparently the next day’s entry.]
Up at 6 o’clock and on guard. Finished my turn at 10, but relieved the others from eleven. Finished guard at 6 o’clock. Went to special Newton1 thanksgiving service in the little chapel at night. Rather dull.
Joseph Fort Newton, 1876-1950, Texan Baptist minister; studied at Harvard under William James (elder brother of Henry James), served at London’s City Temple 1916-20, travelled widely in British Isles, gained international fame through his sermons. See also 12 and 18 January entries. ↩
5 January 1918; Saturday
Ernie’s Birthday. Spent the day on fatigue. Warned for guard at 4 o’clock to go on at 6 o’clock. Received letter from Father and replied to it. Went on guard. Did from 6 to 10.
4 January 1918; Friday
Up about 7.30. Spent morning looking after our little dugout. A new lot from the 52 Ambulance took over and arranged for us to go on night duty. Immediately after dinner received orders to return. Went down in the car just in time for tea. Went to A section billet in the big cellar. Had a cold on chest and felt a bit off form. Got down to it about 5.30 and slept well.
3 January 1918; Thursday
Up about 7.45. On parade at 9 o’clock. On working party in the wood. Some German planes over and dropped bombs. Killed a few men and several horses. One of the planes brought down with a bomb. Wrote letter to Ernie. Fine bright day.
Sergeant Rogers warned me to go to the walking wounded place to relieve Mills at once. Went on the car immediately after dinner. Helped with some field artillery wounded. Went to bed about 9.30.
2 January 1918; Wednesday
Up about 7.30. On working party at new A D S.1 Stayed until 3 o’clock, and got back about 4 o’clock. Very cold and a fair amount of snow. Had no dinner until we returned – only a drop of vile tea and dry bread. Went to whist drive at night in the dispensary. Very good time. Decent refreshments and spent the night from 6.30 to 10. I scored 140. Top score 190, bottom 120.
Advanced Dressing Station ↩