Tag Archives: Wallon-Cappell

7 December 1917; Friday

Abridged, December 1917, , ,

Up about 7 o’clock. Paraded at the dispensary sick. News not very good. Told off to ride in the ambulance cars. Went down to a car after dinner and started off shortly after 2 o’clock. Arrived at Steenbecque1 station before 3 o’clock. Got up tea for the men, who arrived about 5 o’clock and then as the blanket lorry had broken down our ambulance had to make four journeys for our blankets. We packed up and left again at about 9.10. After a quiet journey arrived at Salety2 about midnight.

3 M T men, Corporal Jones, Sergeant Strauss† and myself on the car.

  1. Steenbecque (B): 7km SSW. of Hazebrouck (A); Michelin square G3. ↩

  2. Salety: this is in legible longhand, but not identifiable under this name on the Michelin map; possibly Saulty (C) (off the N25 midway between Doullens and Arras, Michelin square H6), but this leaves the next day’s journey unclear - ↩

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. ↩

28 November 1917; Wednesday

Abridged, November 1917,

Up shortly before 7 o’clock. Paraded at 10 o’clock with full pack and were inspected first by the C.O. and afterwards by the A D M S 1.

In the afternoon went to the football match between our team and the North Lancs2. A very exciting game. They scored in the second half and we scored in the last three minutes. Played extra time 10 minutes and played the Lancs to a standstill, but couldn’t score.

  1. A D M S: Assistant Director of Medical Services. ↩

  2. “North Lancs” is probably the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment; its 7th battalion was in the 19th (Western) Division. ↩