Mr Britling Sees It Through

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Mr. Britling Sees It Through is H.G. Wells‘ “masterpiece of the wartime experience in England”1. The novel was published in September 1916.

The book  tells the story of a writer, Mr. Britling, who lives  in the fictional village of Matching’s Easy, Essex. The novel is divided into three parts. Book the First, entitled “Matching’s Easy At Ease”; Book the Second, “Matching’s Easy at War”; and Book the Third, “The Testament of Matching’s Easy”.

This book appears to have had a lasting appeal to Arthur Linfoot; a copy remained at his home in Sunderland and was read during WW2 by ALL’s own offspring.

Arthur Linfoot wrote that he had started to read this book on 3 April 1918, while stationed near Bailleul in Northern France.

  1. According to David C. Smith, writing in “H.G. Wells: Desperately Mortal: A Biography”. ↩

2 April 1918; Tuesday

April 1918, , ,

Up at about 7.30. Paraded at 10 o’clock and marched to a camp near to Baileul1. Glorious day. Walked into Meteren2 at night and had some eggs at Jeanne’s. Beautiful afternoon and pleasant walk. Rained last thing.

  1. 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 (B); is 6m SW of Locre (A). ↩

  2. Méteren (C); 4km W of Bailleul. ↩

1 April 1918; Monday

Abridged, April 1918, , , ,

Spent most of day packing waggons and overhauling equipment. Went out at night to Westoutre1. Over main road. Called at Johnny’s and had custard and coffee. Fine night. News from the Somme slightly better.

  1. Westoutre: Westouter (B) 3km NW. of Locre (A); Michelin square I3. ↩

30 March 1918; Saturday

March 1918, , ,

Arrived at Strazeel 1 at about 7 am. Went to * *2 in motor lorries. Wet night. Walked into Locre at night.

  1. Strazeel: Strazeele (B), 80km NNE. of Doullens (A); 7km E. of Hazebrouck on D642 Bailleul road; Michelin square I2. This means that since the Retreat began on 21 March, the 58th Field Ambulance had been withdrawn completely from the Somme/Ancre theatre, where the German breakthrough occurred, a good 45km north to the Ypres area. ↩

  2. No possible transcription of this place-name has been identified on the Michelin map; could be anything from a trench/camp name (‘Canada Green’?) to a local name (‘Candé Grand’? – or even ‘Mont Grand’.)  ↩

29 March 1918; Friday

March 1918, ,

Up about 8 o’clock. Had breakfast and packed up ready for moving. Rather stormy and showery. Marched to Doullens1. Lay down by roadside from 7 until past 12 o’clock. Got into train and went north.

  1. Doullens (B); 11km SW. of Humbercourt (A). ↩

28 March 1918; Thursday

March 1918, ,

Up about 7 o’clock. Packed everything up and took down tents. Moved off about 10 o’clock. Arrived at Humbercourt 1 at dinner-time. In billets and they seem quite luxurious billets. Had tea and got paid and went to bed early. Wet and stormy night. No further news from the line.

  1. Humbercourt (B); 11km W. of Humbercamps (A). It seems probable that ALL had written “Humbercourt” in error on 26 March, having meant to write “Humbercamps”, hence this journey from Humbercamps to Humbercourt two days later. ↩

26 March 1918; Tuesday

Abridged, March 1918, , , ,

Up at 6 o’clock and marched off about 6.30. Arrived (after passing through civilised country and seeing civilians) at Bienvillers 1 at about noon and had breakfast. Received orders to move on immediately, and arrived at the cross roads near Humbercourt 2 about 3 pm. All property† left on the way. Put up tents and marquee and flags and opened up dressing station. News from the front still bad. Saw newspaper in which it said the Germans claimed 30000 prisoners and 600 guns. Still no relief. On night duty.

  1. Bienvillers: Bienvillers-au-Bois (B), 6km N. of Hébuterne (A), Michelin square H6. ↩

  2. Humbercourt: ?Humbercamps (C), 4km W. from B.-au-Bois; Michelin square H6. ↩

25 March 1918; Monday

March 1918, , ,

Up at 6 am and marched off before breakfast at 6.30. Arrived at1

Up at about 3 am, fell in at 4 and marched to Beauquuy2. Commenced to pitch tents but order cancelled before they were up. Went into village and had breakfast at some house and fitted up a dressing station. Worked morning and very busy in the afternoon. Had to carry some of our stretcher cases a few miles to the nearest cars. Returned and found our party gone. Found out where they were going and followed and caught them up. Arrived at Hébuterne at about 9 pm. Got down to it3 and slept well.

  1. Another deletion, probably for the same reason as the previous two. ↩

  2. Beauquuy: presumably Bucquoy (B), 3km NW. from A.-le-Petit (A); thence to Hébuterne (C), 6km SW.; Michelin squares I7 and H7 respectively. ↩

  3. “Got down to it”: Lay down to sleep, as elsewhere in the diaries. ↩