Up at 7 o’clock. Kept fairly busy all day. Had walk in the afternoon to Lealvillers1 with Harvey and Holman. Harvey just going out of hospital. Went to bed early.
We were at Asunder at the Barbican Milton Court Concert Hall, London on 12 February.
12 February 1917; Monday
Up at 7 o’clock. Busy all day. Usual work. Went to bed early.
Slightly warmer in the afternoon.
Several British advances made about this time. Also crisis with U S A and Germany. And the submarine ban†1.
11 February 1917; Sunday
Up at 7 o’clock. Busy all day. Finished shortly before 7 o’clock at night. Went to service in YM hut. Ned, the dog1, went with us. Pretty good service. Sang “Sun of my soul2.”
Frost still holding.
This is the only mention in the diary of Ned, the dog. Dogs were used extensively by all sides during the conflict so the presence of a dog is unsurprising. Given that ALL was attached to a medical facility, it is possible that Ned was a casualty dog although he may just have been a mascot or pet. See The role of animals during World War One at the BBC Newsround site. ↩
Sun of my soul, a hymn written in 1820 by John Keble (1792-1866) after whom Keble College, Oxford is named. ↩
10 February 1917; Saturday
9 February 1917; Friday
Up at 7 o’clock. Work as usual. Frost still holding.
8 February 1917; Thursday
Up at 7 o’clock. Work as usual. Frost still holding.
7 February 1917; Wednesday
Up at 7 o’clock. On duty as usual after breakfast. A lot of aeroplane activity overhead and a dud dropped near the camp. Fine day, but very cold and frosty. A chap in my tent killed a rat first thing.
6 February 1917; Tuesday
Up at 7 o’clock. Busy all day as usual. Finished about 7 o’clock. Had a man very ill with pleurisy and had him taken over to the building.
Billy Truman got other three leave cards with another at the billet last thing.
Heard that President Wilson1 had withdrawn his ambassador and that Count Bernstorff2 had been given his passport. A lot of talk of war between USA and Germany.
President Woodrow Wilson broke off diplomatic relations with Germany on 3rd February 1917 following the latter’s decision to re-introduce a policy of unrestricted U-boat warfare two days earlier; see yesterday’s diary entry. The text of President Wilson’s speech to Congress announcing this development is available here. ↩
Johann Heinrich von Bernstorff (14 November 1862 – 6 October 1939) was a German politician and the ambassador to the United States from 1908 to 1917. ↩
5 February 1917; Monday
Up as usual. Busy all day. Billy Truman received orders to go on leave and cleared off after dinner. I took over his tent for a short time and then Harvey came up to it.
Heard of the Germans’ submarine scheme1 and war demands of America.
Germany had resumed unrestricted submarine warfare on 1st February. Unrestricted submarine warfare had previously been Germany’s policy, but this policy had been quietly discontinued in late 1915 following the aftermath of the sinking of the Lusitania. ↩