Tag Archives: Double

“Double” means “double march”, i.e. a run; there appear to have been sporadic attempts to improve the men’s fitness when not in the line.

4 December 1917; Tuesday

Abridged, December 1917, ,

Up about 7 o’clock. On double1. Spent morning practising stretcher business. In afternoon played football. First game I have played since I left school. Sprained my ankle at the start of the match but kept on playing. Had short walk at night but had to turn it in2.

  1. Double march, or run. See all diary entries tagged “double“. ↩

  2. “Had to turn it in”: ALL had to abandon his walk as a result of the ankle injury he sustained while playing football. ↩

1 December 1917; Saturday

Abridged, December 1917, , ,

Up about 7 o’clock and on double1 as usual. Spent morning at stretcher drill. Went to match in the afternoon. We scored first half. They equalised second half. Played extra time and we scored shortly before time. Ambulance team beat North Lancs 2 – 12. Letter in the Daily News from Lord Lansdowne asking what we are fighting for?3

  1. Double march, or run. See all diary entries tagged “double“. ↩

  2. A rematch? See 28 November. ↩

  3. Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne, famously wrote a letter which called for Britain to negotiate a peace with Imperial Germany  in 1917. The letter was published in The Daily Telegraph on 29 November 1917; presumably The Daily News had subsequently picked up the story. The letter was highly controversial at the time. See Lansdowne Letter at Wikipedia. ↩

22 November 1917; Thursday

Abridged, November 1917, , ,

Up about 7 o’clock. On the double1 as usual. On parade and put on the competition squad. Spent afternoon writing and made good progress with French. Heard of victory on the Somme.

British advance on Cambrai 2. 8000 prisoners and many guns.

  1. Double march, or run. See all diary entries tagged “double“. ↩

  2. The Battle of Cambrai (commenced 20 November) is best known as the occasion when tanks were first used in adequate numbers; the few available in 1916 having had their secrecy blown by being tried prematurely on the Somme, and in 1917, still in small numbers, having been largely wasted in impractical ground conditions at Passchendaele. ↩

20 November 1917; Tuesday

Abridged, November 1917, ,

Up at 7 o’clock. Double1 before breakfast and usual morning’s work. Spent afternoon on French and reading “Old St Paul’s”2. Had walk at night with Holman and Harvey and discussed music and a few odd things.

  1. Double march, or run. See all diary entries tagged “double“. ↩

  2. Old Saint Paul’s: William Harrison Ainsworth’s novel, about the Great Fire. See also Old St. Paul’s and  Arthur Linfoot’s library. ↩