Tag Archives: Bailleul

Diary entries written by Arthur Linfoot while stationed at the army hospital in Bailleul, or which mention Bailleul for other reasons. Bailleul is in Northern France, 16km SW of Ypres (Ieper; “Wipers”) in Belgium.

29 April 1917; Sunday

April 1917, ,

Up about 7.30. Busy in dispensary all morning. Had walk out with Sheldrake in the afternoon. Saw the graperies†. Had tea in a house in the town. Went to the concert hall at night and heard Bob Taylor Brown. He preached a very good sermon. Had short walk alone towards Méteren afterwards. Received orders to pack in the morning and returned to headquarters. Called in the church in the afternoon and heard the organ.

28 April 1917; Saturday

April 1917, , ,

Up at 8 o’clock. Helped to rig up dispensary during the morning. Did a bit French at dinner time. Walked into Méteren1 at night and called at Jeanne’s†2. Bought an apron for Gertie. Stayed a good while and talked. A young New Zealander there. Returned about 8 o’clock.

  1. Méteren (B); 3km W of Bailleul (A). ↩

  2. Jeanne’s: Possibly the same “Jeanes” or “Jennis” mentioned on 20 March. A café? ↩

27 April 1917; Friday

April 1917,

Up about 7.45. Breakfast by about 9. Rather dull morning and cold. Didn’t do much all day. In the afternoon changed places with the other chaps and took over a room downstairs. Believe it to be through Bromley. Bromley drunk at night. Turned in fairly early and read a bit. Stayed in at night and wrote a long letter home.

26 April 1917; Thursday

April 1917, , , ,

Up shortly after 7 o’clock. Paraded at 9. Cleaning waggons until 12 o’clock. Sergeant-major ordered me over Baileul after dinner1. Gave me five minutes’ notice. Rode down in car with Bromley. A splendid place. Washed and cleaned up in the afternoon and then went to the concert. A very good concert. Good orchestra. First half turns and second half “dramatic fragments.” Looked up news at night, which spoke of heavy fighting. Went to bed late.

Will have to play my cards very carefully. Finished reading Villette2.

  1. “Baileul”: 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 10km SSW of La Clyttte/Klijte (A). As usual “after dinner” means “after lunch”; the move to Bailleul would have been in the afternoon, not the evening. ↩

  2. Villette: Novel by Charlotte Brontë first mentioned by ALL on 9th April. See also Villette and Arthur Linfoot’s Library. ↩

19 March 1917; Monday

March 1917, , ,

Up at 7.30. Had eggs and chips for dinner along with Harvey. Had full marching order inspection and then cleaned the waggons. Walked into Baileul1 in the afternoon. Had tea and then went to the Merry Mauves2 and enjoyed their concert. Returned about 9 o’clock.

  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 5km NW. of  Outtersteene (A) and 16km SSW. of Ypres; Michelin square I3. ↩

  2. Merry Mauves: The soldiers’ revue first mentioned on 22 September and again on 26 September 1916, also at Bailleul. ↩

6 October 1916; Friday

October 1916, , ,

Up at 7 o’clock. The 111th Ambulance took over from us at 9 o’clock. Went up to the Belgian house and had dinner and then paraded at 2.15, full pack. Marched to Bailleul1 station and entrained there. Slept most of the time in the train and arrived at our destination2 about midnight.

  1. Bailleul (B) is 3km E of Méteren (A) and 16km SW of Ypres. ↩

  2. Doullens (C), see next day’s entry. ↩

26 September 1916; Tuesday

September 1916, , , , ,

Up at 6.45. At work as usual. My afternoon off. Went over to Bailleul with Harvey. Our team playing football against M.A.C. and lost 1 – 0. At the Merry Mauves1.

Received news of Zeppelin raid and 2 brought down2.

  1. “Merry Mauves”: The soldiers’ revue first mentioned on 22 September. ↩

  2. Zeppelin raid: On the night of 23 September 1916, a group of four Zeppelins comprising L31, L32, L33 and L34 staged a raid on London and the surrounding counties. Two of these, L32 and L33, were shot down, the former near Billericay with the loss of all hands. The latter crash landed at at New Hall Farm, Little Wigborough; the crew survived and were taken prisoner. L33 was not completely destroyed and was used to inform the design of British airships R33 and R34. See also List of Zeppelins at Wikipedia. ↩