Tag Archives: Locre

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 This means that since the Retreat began on 21 March, the 58th Field Ambulance had been withdrawn completely from the Somme/Ancre theatre, where the German breakthrough occurred, a good 45km north to the Ypres area.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’.)  ↩

8 November 1917; Thursday

Abridged, November 1917, , , , ,

Up about 7 o’clock. On parade at 9 o’clock. Helped to pack in the morning. Got pass to Bailleul in the afternoon but Ernie didn’t turn up there so I only went into Locre. Returned in good time.

Heard of the death of Willie Whittaker 1 in a letter from Ernie.

  1. ALL also recorded this in a note added to his diary on the date of Willie Whittaker’s death, 22 October 1917. ↩

1 November 1917; Thursday

Abridged, November 1917, , , , , ,

Up at midnight. Breakfast 12.15. Paraded for rations 1.15. Fritz1 plane over and delayed for an hour. Marched to train 3 o’clock. Got into compartment with only one door. 12 hours on the journey. Arrived at Bailleul about 3 in the afternoon. Had dinner and got a lorry to Locre. Walked from there to Kemmel2 and arrived just after 4 o’clock. Commenced to write letter home, fine day, looked through letters received. Harvey and Holman up the line.

Arrived at Ambulance after leave.

  1. Fritz: a name given to German troops by the British and others in the First and Second World Wars. ↩

  2. The map shows the entire journey, from Saint-Martin (A) to Kemmel (D), via Bailleul (B) and Locre (C). ↩

13 October 1917; Saturday

October 1917, , , ,

Up about 7.30. Decided to go to meet Ernie but he came to see me with a friend. Harvey joined us and we walked into Locre and back by La Clytte1. He told me that he had been recommended for a Military Medal2. Had good time together. Had tea in Locre.

  1. The map shows this journey, from Kemmel (A) to Locre (B) and back via La Clytte (C). ↩

  2. Although not recorded in the diary, Ernie had been awarded the Military Medal on 4th October for repairing communication wiring at night in No Man’s Land. The staff officer who saw Ernie doing it recommended him for the award because – perhaps with limited experience of front-line realities – he assumed it must be an exceptional act of bravery; an assumption about which Ernie remained indignant for the rest of his life. Courageous it clearly was (however modest Ernie may have been about it), but it was routine rather than exceptional. See further narrative about Ernie and the R.G.A. in the footnote on 12 May 1916, all posts tagged “Ernie” and the Family page. ↩

24 September 1917; Monday

September 1917, , , , , , ,

Up about 7 o’clock. On fatigue for a short while and then told off to go with the American doctor to see the Divisional column sick. Ernie called for me at noon and I got the afternoon off. Went into Locre. Called at the Y M and had tea and a tune; had tea in a house and then walked in to Mont Rouge. Called in at the Follies and started back shortly after 7 o’clock. Left Ernie about 8.30 near to La Laiterie1. The longest stay yet that we have had together. Enjoyed the day immensely. On return found that Driver had come down with shell shock, and that Holman had taken his place. They had wanted me but I was out. Nick Stack sleeping above me and drunk. He fell out of bed and spent the night on a stretcher on the floor.

  1. La Laiterie: A military cemetery begun in November 1914 and named after an old dairy farm which, perhaps, had previously occupied the site. La Laiterie (B) is located about 1km NE of Kemmel (A) on the N331 road to Ieper/Ypres. ↩