Category Archives: September 1918

All diary entries written in September 1918.

18 September 1918; Wednesday

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Up shortly after 6 o’clock. A lot of messing about and marched off 10 o’clock. Arrived, after numerous stops at our headquarters about 4.30. Headquarters near Esems1. Got a kip, had tea, read letters. One told me of the death of Kenneth MacDonald2 and another of the death of Mr Rowe. Fairly tired. Got down to it early.

  1. Esems: not identified under this name; something that looks more like Essars (B), 20km ENE of Floringhem (A) occurs on 2 October (Michelin square H4); see 2 October. ↩

  2. Kenneth MacDonald, Ranald MacDonald’s brother whom ALL had noted as missing on 27 August. ↩

17 September 1918; Tuesday

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Travelled all day until about 2 o’clock when we arrived at Pernes1. Marched to the reception camp at Floringhem2 and put up for the night. Saw Piggy Wood and Don Gordon. A lot of Americans there – hefty fellows. Poor billet.

  1. Pernes (B), about 160km NE of Rouen (A). ↩

  2. Floringhem (C): close to Pernes on the D916, midway between St Pol and Lillers; Michelin square G5. ↩

15 September 1918; Sunday

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Up about 9. At the Madeleine church in the morning to a service and walked through the Tuileries Gardens1. Had lunch at the Y M near the barracks. Went up to the Invalides2 in the afternoon and had a hurried look at Napoleon’s tomb and then back, tea and to the train. Moved off at about 4.40. Had an A S C man in the carriage who †had been south†. He spoke French and was rather enlightening†. Arrived at Rouen3 about mid-night.

  1. The Tuileries Garden is a public garden located between the Louvre Museum and the Place de la Concorde in the 1st arrondissement of Paris. It was created by Catherine de’ Medici as the garden of the Tuileries Palace in 1564 and is famously the subject of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, No. 3, “Tuileries (Children’s Quarrel after Games)”. ↩

  2. Les Invalides is a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as well as a hospital and a retirement home for war veterans. ↩

  3. Rouen (B), about 120km NW. of Paris (A). ↩

13 September 1918; Friday

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Up at 6 o’clock. Breakfast 6.30 and off to the Fontainebleau1 by train about 30 miles. Spent morning in the palace, had lunch, and then the afternoon driving through the woods. Returned by first class train and arrived about 6 o’clock. Went to English theatre at night and saw Billeted2 – a tip top piece.

  1. The Palace of Fontainebleau (B) is located 55km SW of the center of Paris (A), and is one of the largest French royal châteaux. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. ↩

  2. Billeted was a 1917 play by F. Tennyson Jesse and H. M. Harwood. ↩

12 September 1918; Thursday

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Up at 7.45. Visited the church of Sacred Heart in the morning. Wonderful church. In the afternoon went on boat trip to St. Cloud1. Meals on the boat and fine trip. In the afternoon had dinner at the Hotel D’Iena and then went to the Opera Comique and saw Sapho by Daudet2. Splendid day.

  1. Saint-Cloud (B) is a suburb of Paris, about 10km from the centre of the city (A). ↩

  2. Alphonse Daudet (13 May 1840 – 16 December 1897) was a French novelist and author. In 1884, he wrote a book “Sapho”, which he and Adolphe Belot (6 November 1829 – 18 December 1890) adapted as a play in 1885, presumably the play seen by ALL on this day.

    Somewhat parenthetically, in 1910 another play, an English adaptation of Sapho by Clyde Fitch, was at the centre of a famous New York City indecency trial involving the play’s star, Olga Nethersole and her co-star, Hamilton Revelle. ↩

11 September 1918; Wednesday

September 1918,

Up about 8 o’clock. Breakfast before 9. Went and drew extra money and had lunch at the Army and Navy Club. Walked round Latin Quarter. Saw Nôtre Dame, the Pantechnicon1 and Church, the House of Senate at the Luxembourg, Church of St Etienne2 and many other places. Had dinner at the Army and Navy Club and went to English theatre and saw The Tyranny of Tears3. Most enjoyable day.

  1. The shorthand clearly says “Pantechnicon” – but should it be”Panthéon”? ↩

  2. Saint-Étienne-du-Mont is a church in Paris, located on the Montagne Sainte-Geneviève in the 5th arrondissement, near the Panthéon. ↩

  3. The Tyranny of Tears: A Comedy in Four Acts; 1899 play by Charles Haddon Chambers. ↩