Finished in good time. Went up with Joe to drill but when we got there decided to go for a walk and went round by the top of the new park and round Durham Road. Saw the recruiting procession. A lot of Scottish Horse and Highlanders. Recruiting Procession. Went to Teachers’ Training Centre. Had walk round town at night with Charlie and Willie. Read a bit last thing. Went to bed about midnight.
Tag Archives: Joe
4 December 1914; Friday
Kept busy at work. Went with Father at night to Dr Robinson to be examined. Interview lasted a good bit. Big recruiting meeting in the Victoria Hall1. Lord Charles Beresford2 speaking. Went along to Halford’s† and bought Charlie a flash lamp. Had walk last thing with Joe.
Victoria Hall: see note on 10 January. ↩
Lord Charles Beresford (1846 – 1919): a senior admiral, popular with the public, and an MP from 1874; a participant in the late 19th/early 20th century naval controversies, including competing unsuccessfully for appointment as First Sea Lord in 1906, with Admiral Fisher (who escaped compulsory retirement at 65 in that year by promotion to Admiral of the Fleet, for which the retirement age was 70.) Fisher, who was a leader in the pre-1914 naval construction race with Germany, retired as First Sea Lord in 1911, but was recalled in 1914 to succeed the German-named Prince Louis of Battenberg, was a bizarre and unpredictable character, who briefly went absent during the controversy about the Dardanelles debacle, then resigned in May 1915. ↩
30 November 1914; Monday
Busy at work. Got books pretty well up. Went up to Dr Robinson’s in reply to Father’s postcard and arranged for Father to call when he was well again. Went with Joe to the meeting of the Athletes in the Thornhill church school room. Long meeting. A lot of wasted time.
28 November 1914; Saturday
Worked until 3.30. Had dinner hour1 work, George and I. Went to the Training Centre at night and Joe went with me. Afterwards went for walk with Willie Whittaker and went up the Durham Road. Bought paper and it had in rumour of 2 German ships being sunk in the Baltic. The Herta & Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse , battle ship. [Following words encircled: - ] Not true2.
Could “hour” be “ower”, = “over [at]”? It would be the only bit of Sunderland dialect in the Diary. ↩
It is not known which paper published this rumour, but ALL was clearly right to discount it. The sinking of the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse had happened (though not in the Baltic) on 26 August and was noted by ALL in his diary entry for the following day. There is no record of any ship named Herta at this time although there was an SMS Hertha which survived the war and was scrapped in 1920. ↩
27 November 1914; Friday
Got day book written up to date. Stayed in at night and wrote a long letter to Ernie. Went out last thing with Joe and had short walk round.
Russians gained great victory in East Prussia1.
East Prussia largely disappears from standard WW1 histories after Hindenburg’s victory at Tannenberg in September 1914, which stopped the Russian advance. According to a 1917 Illinois University thesis by Benjamin E. Ludvik, “The Russian Invasions of East Prussia, 1914-15”, the Germans in turn then advanced, despite bad roads and worse rail, but their attempt to cross the Niemen near Grodno (modern Hrodna) was repulsed with heavy losses; Ludvik quotes: “The London Times claims a great victory but the Germans deny the claim”. But this appears to date from 5 October. Ludvik records that thereafter the Russians advanced “slowly but surely”, and by 14 November had reached Stallupönen (c. 80 miles E. of Königsberg), where there had been a battle on 17 August, preceding Tannenberg. But the next phase, which Ludvik calls “The second [Russian] invasion of East Prussia” did not start until January 1915. So, failing any other candidate for the “great victory”, perhaps ALL had belatedly seen or heard a reference to The Times’ October headline, with the date missing. ↩
21 November 1914; Saturday
Finished in good time. Went across to Roker with Joe and saw the guns. 3 big guns on the Cliff Park and trenches all the way along. The road stopped off from halfway down. Taking Bede Memorial1 down. Watched them unloading 6”shells at Ebb’s Point battery. Went round town at night with Willie Whittaker and Charlie. A lot of strange soldiers in town. Went to Trinity Preparation School. Mr Milburn not present.
Bede Memorial: a sculpted stone cross, some 3 – 4m high, erected in early 20th century on Roker Cliff Park, between the east ends of Sidecliff Road and Rock Lodge Road. Removal of this monument (and probably others) was presumably intended to make it more difficult for an invading force to identify a specific location. The Bede Memorial was temporarily removed in WWII also, for the same reasons. See also Sunderland map. ↩
13 November 1914; Friday
At work as usual. Hurried up to the High Barnes school with Joe to drill and we had to stay in and drill with the three recruits. Left about 9.15. Called by the chapel and played a foursome at ping‐pong.
Germans capture Dixmude1, slight advance on Rhine side2.
Dixmude: Actually the town of Diksmuide in Belgium; the French spelling is Dixmude. If the Germans did capture Diksmuide as suggested by ALL, then they only held it briefly. A contemporary newspaper report, dated 14th November, from the Evening Post in New Zealand notes that “a bayonet charge enabled the French marines to recapture the greater part of the town.” ↩
See also Battle of the Yser, mentioned in the diary entry for 2 November. ↩
11 November 1914; Wednesday
Busy at work. Went down to drill at night with Joe. Drilled in St Ignatius’ Institute hall. Had some old carbines. Went round by the chapel last thing but there was no-one there.
9 November 1914; Monday
Got up about 7.40. Not much to do at work. Stayed in at night. Played a little. Had walk last thing. Joe said he heard that Mr Chadwick’s little girl was dead and buried1.
Mr Chadwick’s little girl had been taken ill a few days before as noted on 4th November. Nothing is known about the nature of her illness. ↩
6 November 1914; Friday
Busy at work. Went up to St Gabriel’s with Joe and joined the Athletes’ Civilian Force. Marched from St Gabriel’s to the High Barnes School and drilled there until about 9.30. Joined Athletes’ Force.