Diary of Oberlin Herbert Gray, April 1916 to June 1917 - Part 4

Emma Gray.
Anna M. Gray
Isabel Ash (née Gray)
Lilian Gray.
Arthur. P. Gray.
F. Oliver Gray.
Oberlin H. Gray
A. Gray
Muriel E. Gray
Dorothy C. Gray

Geofferey Gray

Fanny Gray
Alfred E. Gray
[*Bexhill
Dec.
1916.*]

GRAY FAMILY SIGNATURES

DEC. 1916 

There We arrived at Aunt Fannys

at 8.30, a foggy night. She &
Alfred gave us a warm welcome
We had supper & sat talking till
midnight, then retired & had a restless
night - Woke late & Aunt F.
had a nice breakfast ready, then we
caught the bus & tram to Victoria Stn.
Caught the 10 train, & travelled through
some lovely country, changed at Hay wards
Heath & thro Sussex, the Downs rolling
away to right. Reached Eastbourne & saw
Beachy Hd, then back & along Coast
The Martello Towers stand at intervals
along coast. & the ruins of Pevensey Castle
where Willm I landed – Arrived Bexhill
& a short walk to Botfield where we
were welcomed by Aunts & Cousins -
Tom's wife; Dorothy was staying on a
visit. In afternoon we went to the
old Manor House of Countess De la
Warr's, thro' the old oak panelled Rooms
out on roof & in the cellars, then 

thro' the grounds - Heard the
sound of guns from the Western
Front - Lloyd George has been apptd
Prime Minister & a new Cabinet
is being formed - Met Cousins Isabel
& Lill in evening - Uncle Herbert is
deputy Mayor of Bexhill.
Thursday went to a meet of the
Sussex foxhounds, we walked - The
hunt swept away thro lanes &
fields & beat the woods. We saw
one fox run for cover, & another
was raised. We had to return to
lunch, went to Aunt Annie's - A.
Emma was there & L & Isabel
In aftn- cousins took us a long
walk round Bexhill & past Furzebrook
where they once lived - Saw
a haunted house - All blinds have
to be down now at 4.30. no lights
showing. After tea we retd to
Botfield, bright moonlight - We 3 

& the girls had a grand walk
along esplanade, & up Galley Hill
where a Roman galley was wrecked
Retd & played cards & talked.
Friday  We went to Hastings by
tram with Muriel & Dorothy, saw
the country & coast line- A big
Canadian Camp is near Hastings.
Climbed the hill & saw Hastings
Castle & went thro the St Clements
Caves disc. 1825, fine caves, natural
& formed out of sandstone, they were
used by Romans & early Christians
& later by smugglers - they would
accomodate 15000 men. – We could
see 2 airships & destroyers in dist.
escorting a steamer up Channel.
An aeroplane also flew overhead
We saw the fishing village &
catch of fish being landed, then
retd to Bexhill, & late for lunch.
In aftn had our photos taken & 

& at 4.30 said Goodbyes to the
Cousins at the stn. Machines are
used for platform tickets - changed
at Pollgate & arrived in Victoria Stn
at 7.20.  40 minutes late on
account of the fog. - Uncle Herbt
was drawing a cartoon for the
Bexhill Chronicle & Muriel dxectred
executed the cover design for another
paper- We arranged to meet Doris
at 2 PM Sat in town. she is at a Childrens
Hosp. - Home to Aunt Fanny's
& stopped up late talking.
Sat. We went into city at 10, to Tower
Bridge, walked across & saw Town
of London. Into the Guildhall to
see the exhibit of munitions, Passed the
Monument where the Great Fire .
started in 1666. - Went into St Paul's
Cathedral, & down to the Crypt where
Nelson & Wellington & many others
lie buried. Wellington's great funeral
car stands at one end 

Went through Trafalgar Square
with the Nelson Monument towering
on high - the Mansion House
& Royal Exchange - & Bank of
England which is sandbagged &
roofed to protect from Zepps. as also
are many other buildings - The
National Gallery is closed. Called
at Alfreds in Picadilly, then had
lunch & to the Duke of Yorks Column
Admiralty House with the
"wireless" on roof. the War Office, down
steps, & by St James Park, Whitehall
with the Horse Guards in their gay
dress. Through Scotland Yard &
by Downing St. & Pall Mall.
Along the Embankment to
Westminster Bridge, with the Monument
to Boadicea, Queen of the Iceni,
nearby - The Houses of Parlt
tower up grandly near the old
Thames. - Retd to Picadilly & met
Doris at the "Pop"., down, the Strand 

& took the tubes to the Zoo- The
squirrels in the Park near are
very tame, & hop onto ones arm
for nuts, Had a fine time viewing
all the animals. The polar bears
dear etc have rocky terraces to
climb about on - A pretty sunset.
Retd to Picadilly by Tube & through
the thick traffic to the Popular
for tea - Then to Theatreland &
had a pleasant evening at the
Cinema de Luxe, good pictures & an
interesting drama. Came out at
8 & Arth. took us to the Regent Palace
Hotel, & downstairs to the Grill Room
which was crowded with officers &
a gay throng. We were the only privates
present. We went to Edgware Rd
by Tube & saw Doris on a bus, then
retd to the Elephant & Castle & by
bus to Dulwich
Sunday After breakfast took train
into City & walked round streets 

Saw Australia House & the
Colonial Offices - Met Doris at
Picadilly Circus & walked down
past Admiralty & War Office to West
Minster Bridge - Tried to get inside
Westminster Abbey but unable to.
St Margarets Church was open. We
walked past Houses of Parlt' &
noted the Peers Entrance & lofty
Norman Main entrance. Statues
of Richard I & Cromwell. The pigeons
came down to be fed. Walked
along embankment & St James?
Park, past Buckingham Palace
& the Victoria Memorial, back
to the City, & thro' Leicester Square
Caught a tram to East Dulwich
Doris came to Aunt Fanny's to
lunch & had to leave directly after
Alfred had been drilling all
morning - In afternoon we went
a fine walk thro Dulwich Grove
& Dulwich Village, to the Old 

Dulwich College & the New College
The roads are very pretty, many
trees growing at intervals. Went
thru the Park & back the same
way. Arthur had to leave for
Woolwich soon, & after tea we
left for Waterloo Stn. caught the
7 PM train, reaching Wareham
at II.. There had been a heavy
hail storm & the ground was white
12/12/16. We were "crimed" for being
AWL. one day, but got off with
a fine of 1 day pay. -
16/12/16. Heard that a draft was
being sent to France, so got
our names put on & next day, we
had orders to go to Parkhouse, near
Salisbury - Caught 9.40 from
Wareham & after passing thru
Bournemouth &c, arrived at
Southampton where we had 2
hours before the train left. Had 

a meal & look round the
town & docks, on the pier
& thro one or two parks -
We left at 3.45 & travelled
through frost clad country to
Ludgershall & then onto Tidworth.
We had a 3 mile walk along
a frozen road, the snowy tree
looking rather pretty., A mist over
everything. - Had a hut & something
to eat given us &: Met several old
mates & acquaintances. A nice
YMCA hut:

23/12/16. Last night a concert was
held in the Canteen, a London variety piers &
entertainers came. Songs, recitations
etc & some remarkably good ventriloquism
We have had cold wintry weather
snow & mud lately. The draft
has been warned for days that
it might leave at any time for France
& we are now quite ready, having
been medically examined, dental 

inoculated, Kits examined &
anything missing replaced, black
books issued in place of the brown
Australian boots, etc. There are
160 men, divided up into sections
for each of 4 divisions
26/12/16. Yesterday was Christmas
Day, & I hope the next will be
spent in a brighter place than this.
Several of us went to Church in
the morning in the little village of
Shipton near. For dinner we
had ham & beef & pudding &
some oranges & nuts & a Christmas
box from the Red Cross. The most
pleasant part of the day was an
invitation to tea at the YMCA
of a dozen of us, & games & supper later
It has been very cold, snow yest.
31/12/16.  Have just finished a
service at YMCA. They are 

having a watchnight service
at 11.30. - Recd a Christmas
box from Bexhill. 60 AMC
arrived per several boats with
5000 troops - They were at Sierra
Leone for 2 wks - there were 10
or 12 transports waiting there for
escort. Some 20000 Aust. troops.
Nearly cleaned out Austn Camps
Yest. I was working at Tidworth
unloading trucks bedding for
hospital.
1/1/17  In Hospital Cookhouse.
2/1/17  Heard in AM. that we embark train
to night. Last preparations, a number
of new men picked & fitted out. Parade
at 10.30 & soon after we moved off, a
tiring & muddy walk with full pack up,
road partly flooded reached Tidworth
at midnight & the train left 1230.
Changed at Andover & joined a troop
train of Tommies from Salisbury, -
Passed thro' London, & reached 

3/1/17
Shorncliffe at 7 AM - Walked a
mile to Folkestone - & entered 2
houses of a large square of fine
residences (used for billets) Supplied
with. breakfast by Tommies, & then
walked to the Harbor & were soon
on board a steamer Princess Clementine
bound for France, – Hundreds of
Tommies & Scotch came with us – The
Capt & crew were Belgian - Soon ^10.30 we
started out & were soon feeling the roll
of the Channel. Numbers of destroyers
minesweepers trawlers etc. The crossing
was rather choppy & several were sick
The boat was crowded & we all wore
lifebelts,- accompanied by destroyers.
Arrived at Calais about 12, & came
alongside another transport crowded
with Tommies - disembarked by
1245. & marched from the wharves
through streets of the town, exciting
comment from the French passers by
ARR. IN FRANCE 3/1/17

The Australians seem to be

heartily sick of the war,

The majority seem to have voted

No for Conscription. Owing to 

this partly - "Remember France &

"Belgium" I heard one say - "Yes

"Well remember them", - then,

"Every time it rains & we step 

"into some mud will think of

"France & Belgium." We have

certainly seen plenty of mud

already & its nothing to what

is coming.- We marched thro pt

of Calais to the station of Fontinelles.

and there halted in a big yard, near

several empty trains. We rested in
one of these & lunched, we had brought

24 hrs rations, bought some hot tea
from the Tommies.  About 3 entrained

in small compartments & passed

thro' county similar to Eng. -

farmhouses, fields & woods -  

It got dark early - We passed
several long trains bound for
the front with ammunition &c
& a hospital train - Passed Boulogne
at 6 PM. & finally reached
Etaples where we marched to
the Details Camp a mile away. We
found tents for our accomodation &
settled in. We mess in a large
hut about 30 X120ft. - over 800
men, no room to spare - it is
all tinned food,- machonocies rations
jam, butter & bread - tinned beef -
There is absolutely no waste,
Met Will Wise, he was in 1^st F.Amb
& was wounded on the Somme, is
Now. P.B. he looks very well,
5/7/17  Yesterday fatiguing, removing
sand & building a wall. In the
aftn a route march out into the
County - Gently rolling Country
all under cultivation, it is sandy 

We are close to the Channel &
will remember the sand dunes
of Northern France - Quaint
peasant carts, the women & girls wear
shawls over the head. Many selling
chocolate etc by the wayside
wherever we go- Passed a quaint
old windmill & old stone walls
 & buildings - The fields are open
to road & no fences are used,
all agricultural. At night a
concert in one of huts
To day we rose before 6. breakfast
645 parade at 7.30 & marched
2 or 3 miles to No.1. Training Ground
It is a big levelled space (sloping)
among the sand dunes, quite
close to & overlooking the Channel to the W.
An inlet which was almost dry
at low tide ran up to the W.
We passed thro the camp, it is
a huge place, thro' a wood & past
several hospitals, (6 or 7) long [[walk?]]