Diary of Oberlin Herbert Gray, July 1917 to August 1918 - Part 2

foot - At one end of Loch Awe x 

are the ruins of Kitchener Castle

& in places Highland cattle were

feeding, fine beasts. Had tea

& found a nice Temp. hotel Kept

by a M^rs Campbell who had been

in Aust 20 yrs ago. Walked round

the Bay, past Dunollin Castle &

Towards Ganawen Sands. The 

Is of Mull lies to the West &

Kerrera Is. nearer. Oban is the

centre of Highland tourist resorts.

German mines were laid up

North of Oban, & minesweepers

were continually at work.

Very wet weather, crops were

growing in the stooks, & the war

had affected the tourist traffic.

Ret^d & had breakfast, then up

on the hill to see the buildings

& circular tower erected by a mad

old Scot. Train left at 11.20,

a Scotch mist which kept on 

till aftn. Passed Loch Luinha, Glen

Cruitten near Oban - Ben Cruachan

& the lovely Falls of Cruachan.

Glen Strae, Glen Falloch, Benlui

& Glen Ogle Loch Lubnaig & River

Teith were other places I saw on way

Arrived at Stirling at 3 & spent

some hours there, visiting the 

Castle & Old Church & the

town - At the castle I saw John

Knox's pulpit & other relics.

 

I arrived at Edinbro at 10.30 & up

to the Ramsay Lodge for the night.

The follg morning I wanted to see

Forth Bridge, so went out in the

motor bus, a fine ride thro

beautiful country -8 miles -The

Forth Bridge is a fine structure-

we went close to it. Walked

from the quaint old village

near Queens Ferry to Bridge of

A lot of shipping in the Firth of 

Forth, the Australia for one. Ret^d

to town& to dinner at 12. In 

aftn visited Castle, a splendid

view from the ramparts - Down

across the big courtyard & down

the old street leading thro the

heart of the old city. Saw John

Knox's house - the Tolboorh,

the house where Adam Smith lived

St Giles StChurch. Market Cross.

Statue of Charles II, Holyrood

Palace & Abbey - the rooms

where Queen Mary lived - The

supper room where David Rizzio

was murdered. Ret^d to town

& had tea, & for a train ride

& walk in country.

 

Monday 1^st Oct. Met 2 friends in

Princes St. at 9. & walked to tope of

Calton Hill - a fine view over

City - Before breakfast I walked

up to top of Arthur's Seat a 

splendid view. 15 min from

Holyrood Palace.

Left Edinbro at 10 & a good

journey down. Neared London

at 7 & stopped, all lights out on

account of air raid. Arrived

Kings X at 840 & Waterloo at 9

by way of tubes - The tubes

were crowded with poor people, I heard

several bombs drop & heavy firing

Trains held up from 6 to 11.P.M. I 

saw the shrapnel bursting above

London, Poor women & children!!

Left L. at 1130 & arrived at Andova

1.30 had to sleep in carriage nearly 

frozen. train came at 7, arrived'

late in camp.

4/10/17  A big lot of Austns have

just arrived via Panama

& landed at Glasgow. With 13

transports of American troops &

14 destroyers. they caught one destroyer

submarine in Irish Sea.

5/10/17  Put in another applicatⁿ to rejoin

unit. 3^rd 3d Unit. The col approved 

it I expect to go to No 2 camp

shortly. Very cold weather, rain.

12/10/17  Moved to No 2 Camo, with 50 others

transferred to AMCD to go to France with

next draft. Met Bert Barr & Tip Lee-

Eddington Conquest & other Emig chaps

are now at N 2 Camp. The 4^th Sea

Transport expect to go to France.

13/10 Walked out to Cholderton to see

N. Buckman. Chopped some wood &

had tea there. This morning

we were all examined &

 

are now on draft - cannot leave 

the camp. A fine sunny day

14/10 A debate at YMCA on - "Should we

have Reprisals" - Sgt Clarke of Tas

a Rhodes Scholar led the affirmative

which one easily - I was on the negative

side - The 150 AMC are now ready to

17/10 leave, a wet miserable day

A supper at the Canteen to the draft

A number in our hut had too much

& made things noisy.

18/10 Early dinner - Left Parkhouse

at 1PM - The band played us out

to Shipton - Came thro to Southamptom

with other Aust. troops - The country

is very beautiful, the woods in

their autumn tints - golds, bronze & yellows

A misty rain all aftn, the whole

country is soaked, lakes & brimming 

streams. Passed Romsey - Andover etc.

Marched from S. docks through the

town to a big rest camp at the Common

in an ancient forest _ Huge elms-

Thousands of Americans about - a new

costume - Went out to Shirley by

tram to M^rs D. Campbells, with whom

I stayed in Oban - M^rs C. is in the a

bank. One daughter was at home -

one at St Thomas Hosp on at Edinb.

University & another a governess. Spent 

a pleasant evg - Back to camp

by 10.30 & a good night - At 10

19/10 marched to docks & embarked

on Courtfield with other Aust.

& Eng. troops. Left docks at 2 PM

Came slowly down Southampton

water - Saw ships that had been

torpedoed being repaired. All kinds

of craft - biplanes overhead -

Passed a Seaplane station & saw

a seaplane ascend - Passed Sub

marines -The Aquitania, a hosp

ship lying (dirty & huge) at anchor

she is not being used. Passed

Isle of Wight - destroyers & mine-

sweepers. Watched the golden

sun sinking over the low hills - 

met Gen Furmage, & had a good

yarn to him - Had supper &

turned in wrapped in my great-

coat, my bed a rifle rack 15"

wide, & a strap round me in

case of falling off. Morning found

us at Havre after a quiet & 

uneventful night.

    24/10/17 A muddy march of 6m. thru

the docks - poorer parts of Havre, past

munition works along an avenue the

road shaded with a large old [[chxx?]]

up a valley, with woods in autumn

dress, past numerous camps of

Austns & Eng. & Scotch - to the AMC

camp - In tents - 14 to a tent,

frightfully crowded - In aftn everyone

had a hot bath

On Sat all "new" men marched out

at 730, thru a dark wood & past a

fine old Chateau, past camp

 

to the RFA Gas School - They day

occupied in gas & other instruction,

a picnic lunch of tinned beef

 

(Rest of page covered by piece of paper

stating)

ARR IN FRANCE (2ND TIME)

24/10/17

 

at Rouen - a big

Fritz prisoners about - We marched

out of the station & to a rest camp

Cae slowly down Southampton

Water - Saw ships that had been 

torpedoed being repaired. All kinds

 

(Rest of page has been pasted over)

 

to the RFA Gas School - They day

occupied in gas & other instruction,

a picnic lunch of tinned beef &

biscuits - A fine view from the hill

of Havre & the bay-

Sunday on fatigues - wrote home-

The draft picked out - only men who

had previously seen service on the

Western front -The 3rd Fd Amb well 

represented - Ol. S. Holt is my partic. chum

now- Expect to leave Monday-

Monday Issued with one or two necessities 

& gas helmets. A route march in a.m.

to a small town near - French life

is very interesting - nice kiddies. On Sat

evg a very talented party gave selections

from Faust at the YMCA - A M^rs Salmon

as Margaret & Mephistopheles, Faust & Valentine

(Eng. boys) they had splendid voices &

the concert was much appreciated by

the large majority- Altho. numbers

walked out during the intervals - We

paraded at 6.30PM Monday in marching

order & left soon after - Rain fell

in the morning but it cleared up. A 

fine evg, a new moon in a cloudy sky

& the lights of scattered houses, the 

blaze of huge munition furnace, &

different colored lights- Arrived at

the station at 10PM - Hundreds of Americans

disentraining - 1000s of bales of cotton.

Entrained in trucks "36 hommes or

8 chevaux" awfully crowded - no room

to lie down, dozed - the train jolted

a good deal - A big no. of RAMC

on board.

Tues 6AM found us in the station

at Rouen - a  big busy place. Many

Fritz prisoners about - We marched

out of the station to a rest camp

about 1 km. Rouen Cathedral, a splendid

sight & other church spires stand

out- The River Seine flows through

the city - many barges & steamers on

it, & one or two fine bridges. A Church

Army Hout near the camp where we

could purchase bread etc. We had

2 days rations with us of biscuits

bully beef, cheese jam Tea &b sugar.

A light rain fell all the morning.

Walked along the banks of the Seine

but could not go far. At 3PM marched

to the station & hundreds of troops

crowded into the long train - officers 

in carriages - others in trucks. We 

had room to lie down. Passed through

station yards & crossed the Seine on a 

fine iron bridge - 2 or 3 islands

in the river - the hills rise

up sharply on the Nth shore, & we

passed thro the long tunnel under

them - darkness fell soon after,

& everyone turned in early - stopped at

several places in night.

24/10/17 In early morng part of troops detached

for the Somme. 6.20 found us going

north, at Mt St E loi, somewhere near

Arias - a fine day. Pretty country

woods in all their glorious autumn

tints - wayside villages & stations

tilled fields - mangels, & turnips &

sugar beet. Passed coal mines,

a town with many smoky chimney

stacks & more mine pitheads -

passed many train going south with

coal - hundreds of tons on each train 

with 2 engines each. Passed a gang

 

of Chinese laborers working on line - A long

extent of line was new since the wat,

had been destroyed n ours or German

retreat - stopped at - for 4  hrs in aftn - near

a town. A truck of beer on next line &

when the boys discovered it, a keg was rolled

out & others emptied one in the truck,

an officer tried to stop it, but when he

had gone the chaps pushed the truck

along & passed a keg into several trucks.

At night several were very noisy.

At one siding there was a hosp train

no. 11 - I got out& tried to find Joe

Thorp, but he was out on a fatigue & I

missed him as the train waited only

a minute - Reached Hazebruck & 

waited there some time - could hear

the sound of guns - A few miles

back some chaps were sitting on the

roof of trucks - We passed under a

bridge & 2 were badly injured - one

rolled off the truck & the other was

lying unconscious on top. We left

them on the track with a RAMC man.

Rain falling - came on to Caestre

We got out here & marched to the

1st Anzac Rein Camp near - 10 in

a tent for the night - very muddy.

Walked into the village with Holt a 

road bordered by high trees - &

cobbled - A big church with tower,

shops with small articles for sale - coffee

& eggs etc. Had some tea at YMCA

near Church - A chat to some

French Canadians in a little shop. 

They were from Montreal - quite at home

with the language. Flemish is spoke

mostly here - Many of the girls

are nice looking - Walked back to

the camp & turned in -

25/10/17 Breakfast of beef & biscuits -

set out to find the camp we had orders

to report to - One of our men missing

& the N.C.O. in charge of the 4th Dn lot

with the roll & papers - marched

along a frightfully muddy road &

onto a cobble road - turned off at a

village, & across some fields to A3

camp. Billeted in tents (14) very

crowded - very muddy - a  hop field

adjoining - low lying grounds- After

a light lunch Holt & I walked across

mangel & turnip fields - women & girls

gathering in mangels - several wind-

mills on the landscape, the roads 

are usually bordered by trees - came

into Flitre, had a some coffee &

bread & butter at a "tea room". A

damaged house - windows broken

during the German occupation of 88 

days in 1914 - after used as billets 

for British & French - The door of 

case boards, & windows boarded up

ceiling broken - 2 Flemish broken

& an old grandmother making lace

in a corner, a brightly polished stove

pots & pans - plates - cups on a side

board - a parrot in a cage, 2 long

tables on one side of room, & a

round table in centre - one or two

damaged cupboards - An air of

warmth & cleanliness - The Flemish

woman could not compri Frech

but spoke English a bit - Another

woman we took for a nun was there

for a while - A nunnery on a hill

several kms distant where the

Germans committed some barbarous

dees - A German prince was

shot & buried near here too . The woman

said the Germans weren't all bad,

some were bad & others good, they paid

for things - These women had lived in

Ypres but had been in this place 

since April 1915. We walked thru the

ville, it is Hd Qrs of the army corps.

A fine chateau is HQ - plenty of

motor cars about, staff officers coming

in from up the line - lots of motor

lorries etc. Walked ^1/2 way along to the next

village - all agricultural country -

The road between the villages perfectly

straight & tree bordered - the church

spire standing out at each end -

Ret^d to camp & moved tents as a new

lot had marched in. Taubes were

near us in night & a number of

bombs dropped not far away - shell fire

& machine gun a few miles off.

26/10/17 Rain falling in night & most

of morning - miserable - nothing

to do - a wash in a pool of water in

swamp. smoking & reading in

tent, & listening to m.g. & shell fire.

28/10/17 2 days of fine weather, mud drying

up, only cleaning up camp, laying

duckboards etc - Went into Caestre in 

evenings - made the acquaintance of

one or two nice Belgian women keeping

small shops - Crowds of troops about

British Canadian Austn & French-

A school is open & numbers of children

about - Plenty of civilians in villages &

country - Poperinghe about 7 miles

off. The 3^rd Fd Amb is running

a rest station near it - & the Bearer

D^r is up the line, so expect O. is

well - numbers of airplanes going

in to Line in mornings, & returning

Towards evening. Glorious moon this

evening, lights up the whole country

side, poplar trees & a windmill

here & there with houses & farm

buildings stand out. Met Sibley &

other 12^th Bn Tasm^ns - The 1^st &

other D^vn detail camps are round here.

30/10/17 Yesterday wet - today fine &

sunny - Fritz aeroplanes over early

this morning, dropped a number

of bombs near - One over us

about midday - On fatigues

In evening walked into Cuestre -

Had coffee at a small shop & a chat

with a Belgian girl whom spoke

English fairly well - A cold night

only one blanket each, the rations

are fair 3 men to a loaf - 3 or four to

2oz cheese ea. bacon at breakfast &

stew for dinner-

Nov. 3. Walked up to Remy Siding with

Pink & Holt. We walked into Fletre &

had some light refreshment, then on

to Mt des Cats, where we had eggs & chips

at a Flemish house - there are quite

a number of windmills around the country

huge sails - recallg Don Quixote's advent.

A large monastry ^nunnery surrounded by a

long & high wall, a small group

of low hills - Mt des Cats figured in

the early days of the war. Walked on

through Bosschape, a paper chase

was on among some troops ([[heigh?]]

have been running through their home

country lanes. Reached 3^rd Fd.

DRS at Remy siding - Met many

 

old friends - many new faces & some

alterations - A number of military medals

awarded lately - This undoubtedly to

help keep up the spirits of the men - There

is growing dissatisfaction at the amount

of work put on the Austns - Everywhere one

sees the signs of the longing for peace - The

Tommies are fed up - I see in the Mail

Conscription is being advocated again

in Aust. In France they will(austn)

vote pretty solid against it. The

other chaps walked to Poperinghe, &

lost their way, going a circle of

some miles in the dark. I looked 

up old friends - We all slept at the

DRS, Several squads went up the 

Line, & I sent word to Oll that I was

there so next morning he came down

4/11/19 in a motor lorry. A tremendous

amount of traffic on this road-

4 Clearing Hospitals (2 Can) near, & lots

of wounded coming in - Cowie was

at one - saw several Sisters. A large

cemetery with thousands of crosses in.

Several 3^rd Fd Amb. chaps buried there.

I saw 12 or 14 flag covered stretchers

being taken along from the Hosp^l.

Oll came down about 10.30 & we had

a walk & talk. A nice dinner at

the Unit & spent the after. with Oll,

had tea & left shortly after. Oll looks

very well, has been thro' some rough

times - I walked thro Boeschepe & took

a wrong turning, so decided to

get to a station & had a much 

shorter walk in consequence - caught 

a train, which brought me to

Caestre, & a km. to the camp.

5/11/17 Went into Caestre in evening, a 

long line of motor  buses going up to

Ypres - had just taken Can^ns to another

part of the Loire - Came in on top of one

nearly damaged by a line across the

road - A chat with a Fch Canadian

he was very eloquent on the conditions

ruling at present.

Going to see Oll, I walked out of 

France & across a strip of Belgium into

France again. The O.C. here thinks

we may be able to go to the

3^rd in a day or two.

10/11/17 The Italians during the past week

have been driven back from the Isomzo

beyond the Taghainents & are still

retiring - 2 British Dns Austns being sent

to Italian front - The Russians here

practically given in - From things

we hear the Belgians are "fed up" with

fighting, & seem to be able to get home

when they like - One I know is at

home & had got a D^r to give him an

extension of leave on a/c of "sickness" - 

I am still at the 1^st Dⁿ Detail camp

on "fatigues" etc. The 1^st Dⁿ is

coming out of the Line on 11^th we will

join the 3^rd then. - More rain -

eternal mud -

Report in the paper of another referendum

in Aust. on conscription - The

feeling over here is pretty strongly

against it -

13/11/17 Paraded at 8 after an early

breakfast - Marched to Caestre

 

station, & shortly after boarded a train,

passed thro' Havebruck & on to Renescure

where we had to ADMS 1st Div. The

rain did not stop, carried us on to next

town (Arques?) Returned to Renescure by

first train & reported at ADMS billet in

the best house in the village - Saw 
FK Musham - Orders to report to 2nd

Fd Amb 10 km off. Started off, but

a despatch rider caught us up & told

us that the 2^nd Fd Amb had moved

to Queistede 15 km. Marched on thro

villages & flat country, all agricultural

Holt & I went on ahead to learn the way

the others (24) struck off another road

& arrived at destination before us.

We waited an hr. then walked on,

darkness fell & we took a wrong turning

to a farm. On thro' a wood heard a

bugle in the distance - thro' a village where

Portuguese were billeted & found the 2^nd

Fd Amb at a farm - part of 3^rd Fd.

attached to them - Ol was there had

walked into St Omer for the day, they

had marched in about 1AM. A row

in an estaminet in evg, & one of 2^nd Fd.

had his head cut open by a Portuguese-

no love lost between the Austns & Port.

Slept in barns - Reveille at 6, break

14/11/17 at 6.15 & paraded 7.39 with packs.

Our blankets carried - Marched off

thro' changing country, mostly flat-

Peasants working in the fields - no 

fences - mangels & turnips being gathered

in - blowing - A glorious Autumn

day - almost Spring like, A halt & 

short rest every few Kilos. Arrived

at Halte Douve about 2 & took

up our quarters in a farm - Dinner

shortly after - stew & tea - Had a

shave & wash & Harry Reyn - O & I

went for a walk thro the village to a

mill, & back to tea at 6 o'c. Major

Gutteridge is with 2^nd also Major Lovegrove

at 17^th Fd. Retired soon after tea, up

15/11  at 6, & after breakfast marched

off again. The Country is more hilly

practically all under agriculture - 

small villages & farms. We have

seen long columns of marching troops

today - transports & cyclist corps-

motor cars, wagons & red + cars contin

passing -n Another fine day - Arrived

at Senlecques about 1.30 & billeted in

sheds & barns - Dinner &c - We are

marching towards Boulogne, about W.

16/11/. Remained in billets today. H.R.

O & I went for a walk in aftn,

General Birdwood passed thro' in the

morning - a special parade, & a number 

of medals presented - On water fatigue

Every house has its wall, & there is

a village pump, & walls in some

of the fields. Two or three estaments

& a few poorly built cottages -

G. Lovett passed thro' the village, I haven't 

seen him for years he is a capt. in 8^th Fd

17/11/17 Reveille at 6, parade at 730, &

started off due W. - the day cloudy

but fine, rather cool. Halted near

Desvres & found that our billets had

been occupied by 2^nd Bgde. Contd

our march on 15km to Wirwighes

12 km from Boulogne - Took some

 

time to get us all settled in billets 

in barn lofts mostly - we were comfortable

in a loft near the principal inn-

cows in stable below - All French

yards are very dirty - a large manure

heap in middle of yard - The unit

(2^nd Fd Amb) was scattered, about well.

The cook house about 1km from our

billet - fortunately the weather cont.

fine, & we had meals scattered 

in the roadway near the open

air cookhouse.

18/11/17 In aftn. O & I walked into

Bologne - had a ride in mail motor

most of way - 12 km. Several others went

in also - We walked along the

wharves - across the bridge & near 

the Docks where the Folkstone boats

leave from - Plenty of sailors, Fch soldiers

Portuguese etc about - A few Austns

& Americans &n members of the WAAC

We walked thro' the old town &

round the ramparts - The old

town is set on a mound, & the

walls are very solid - Saw the Fire

B/Station, & had tea at a Soldiers

Club - Darkness fell about 5 -

We ret^d by 7.30 - a good road

all the way-

19/11/17 Moving firewood for a French

family in morning _ In aftn H.R.O

-I walked into Desveres - a very

dirty town - several high chimneys

a tannery etc. The 2^nd Bgde

are in billets there - Went into

several shops & ret^d to W for

tea, taking back some bread-

French loaves - flat brown ones

20/11/17 Paraded 8.30 & marched to

Samers 5 km, then on to Cormont

9 km where the 3^rd Fd Amb is at

present billeted - Samers is a small

town - very dirty - the country is

more hilly - we marched SE, &

a fresh sea breeze blew strongly from

the West - The road rose abruptly

after Samer & descended again

Had lunch on summit of hill - then

Col Butler passed in car - Cormon

is a small village with the usual

large Church & estaminet - The

3^rd Fd. came in yest & are billeted

in the stables etc.- We have an

old home & it fairly cosy - An old

man occupies one room, he is

the owner - very poor & dirty -

21/11/17 Col Butler inspected our lot &

welcomed us back - I am again

in C Sect - Issued with a second 

blanket - Expect to stay here some

weeks - We are in an out of the

way spot - Leave to Bologne, 8 men

a day - it is too far (25 km) to get

in by foot - Col Butler is going to

send in a car each day if possible

22/11/- A big mail came in yest. It was 

good to get mail after5 wks lapse. 

Tent pitching in morning - Did some

washing in aftn- a Scotch mist

hung about all day - very damp.

 

25/11/17 Leave to Paris Plage (Paris Beach) &

Emples - P.P.is the watering place of

Paris, a fashionable tourist resort before the

war. H.R, J Southwall & I set out about

10 - We were fortunate to catch a car,

at top of the hill through France where

I saw Gun Furnage, & one or two

other villages to Etaples. Alighted at 

the Square, & had a look round. Went

in the Church built by the English

in 1204, & visited by Heny VII & Charles

of France after the Treaty of Etaples

conclusion of 100 yrs war? Walked

across the bridge over an arm of the sea

A strong wind blowing from West-

Walked thro' Le Tornquet Woods, birch

& pine, a sandy soil. The Regina

Hotel is a large hotel in the woods

now used as a Fch Aux Hospital.

Other hotels also - a large golf links

near. Walked thro' the streets of

Le Tornquet Paris-Plage & out on to the

sea front - Paris P is a fine little

town, quite modern & plenty of

diff. & distinctive styles of architecture

it is clean, nice streets - shops-

It was formerly out of bounds to all

troops & only recently that Aust^ns

could go there, trams run from

Etaples 5 km. Fine hotels - A

splendid concrete promenade. We walked

around the streets & along the sea front

A splendid sandy beach, the tide

was out - A strong wind blowing in

from the Atlantic - the sun breaking

through a bank of clouds - Had

an excellent dinner at the Cafe de 

Commerce 31/2 fr. Met O at 4 &