Diary of Oberlin Herbert Gray, January to August 1918 - Part 4

1918 MONDAY 4 FEB.

Fine & comparatively warm

A route march in a.m

also gas instruction &c

A football match on in the

afternoon. I put the time in

digging in the garden -

O returned to the Unit from

the D.R.S. at Locre, he is

nearly right

Madame went to her sister to

bring back her little girl, she is

a dear little kiddie of 4½.

blue girls eyes & fair hair, a dimpled

chin & rosy cheeks, she is a

very bright little girl chatters

away to us in broken English,

she gets very excited over the

dog & is not at all shy - gave

us all a kiss -

FEB. TUESDAY 5 1918

Warm & dry - the ground

is drying - plowing is going

on all round about -

A big raid on London the

 other day - reported that 60

people killed & 250 injured -

also a raid on Paris.

1918 WEDNESDAY 6 FEB.

Fine, damp atm

Hear we are going to

stay here for 3 or 4 wks,

the transport is at Outter Steen

& B sect. tent Dr has also 

moved there.

Had standard bread issued

today for first time in

France -

FEB. THURSDAY 7 1918

Rain fell during the morning

after a strong Westerly wind.

Route march & lecture in

morning -

Aust mail in.

1918 FRIDAY 8 FEB.

Raining.

Most of the Stores arrived

from Outtersteen -

cleared out a loft above

Q.M. store to accomodate

them.

Heard from Arthur saying

that he had joined the

A.M.S. he spoke of the

recent raid on London when

there were a large no. of casualties

Had one of the best games

of Chess I have had

for a long time - H.R won.

FEB. SATURDAY 9 1918

A mild day -

News of Mable's engagement

to Dr Gordon Lake, a Dr

of Science & Lit.

Have had some interesting

discussions lately. Vic Hall

H.R. & others - Wainwright

came to this billet after

leaving hosp.

1918 SUNDAY 10 FEB.

Fine & mild

Heard of Mable's engagement

to Dr. Bernard Lake - a Dr of Science

& Lit - he was lect. on Eng

Lit at Leipzig some years ago

Mable met him when she

was on her Summer holiday

in Cornwell last Autumn

FEB. MONDAY 11 1918

Fine

Vic Hall appointed as C Sect.

representative on the Canteen

Committee -

Had my boots mended

1918 TUESDAY 12 FEB.

Fine -

Christmas parcels are beginning

to arrive freely - mostly 

of last Sept.

On guard with Easter &

F.O.

Tom Beach retd from leave

to Paris -

FEB. WEDNESDAY 13 1918

A fine rain most of the

day - we were going a

route march to Outtersteen

but it was postponed.

A number of players, chess,

in C Section are running

a tournament

I won 5 out of 7 games.

1918 THURSDAY 14 FEB.

O. is going on leave to Eng.

on Tuesday next, it comes

rather earlier then he had

anticipated

Rations have been very light lately

Dry rations 4 to 8 oz bread & biscuits

butter occasionally, cheese 1 to 2 oz,

jam 1 to 2 oz also a small piece

of bacon for break & stew for

midday meal. - However there

are plenty worse off than

we are.

FEB. FRIDAY 15 1918

Fine.

The usual route march lecture

gas practice & physical training.

A meeting of the committee on

Debating Society & library in

evening - gave OLS Holt some

practice on chess.

1918 SATURDAY 16 FEB.

Hard white frost, fine day

A meeting of the Literary Society

in evening at a barn in the village.

We sat on improvised seats with a

carpet of straw under our feet.

O.L.S. Holt apptd Chairman - SamR.

read a chapter on Gwen's campn in

the Sky Pilot by R. Connor. - Barlow

took an extract from Young Lord

Stronleighs - Robert Barr pointing out

the aptitude of some writers to lay

special stress on plot - expression or

characterization - H.R. spoke on

Tennyson's Enoch Arden & interspersed

it with quotations - Each subject

was discussed & a pleasant

evening was passed. About 20 were

present, & it was decided to hold

any meetings on Tues & Sat.

During the evening we heard 6 or

8 bombs dropped near & heavy

firing by anti-aircraft -

The artillery on the Messines front

are very active to day -

FEB. SUNDAY 17 1918

Another hard white frost - ice an

inch thick, turned out a

calm bright day. warm in

the sheltered spots, quite an

ideal winter's day.

O. received his pass & left for

Eng. via Calais, he has 14 days

leave & intends visiting Scot.

Bournemouth Bexhill etc.

A raiding plane was over

us about noon; the artillery

on our front have been firing

continuously since early morning

1918 MONDAY 18 FEB.
Fine.

Meeting of the Literary Circle

to elect a Committee -

S Sgt Behun HAT Reynolds Barlow

Vic Hall

A raid over the East Coast

of Eng on Sat. night.

FEB. TUESDAY 19 1918

Fine, quite warm in the 

Sunshine.

Debate on "Should Sexual

instruction be taught in our

Schools" V.H. opened it for the

affirmative & gave a clear &

logical 15 minute talk, he

admitted that the home was

the ideal place for such instruction

but this had been shown to have

failed - This is one of the most

vital questions of the nation's future

welfare & some form of instruction

should be given in Schools -

The opposition argued in favor of

it being left to parents - Three 

speakers on each side & several

of the others present made an

interesting debate - The Chairman

gave his decision for the affirmative

1918 WEDNESDAY 20 FEB.

A dull cloudy day -

rain fell towards evening.

Freddy Whitcombe retd from

London, he spent most of

his furlo there.

Several of us entered for the

Chess tournament at the YMCA

FEB. THURSDAY 21 1918

Played chess at YMCA.

lost to an Art.y. player.

won from Tom Beach & lost

to Kollosche.

Mac. won from Harry R.

& lost to me.

Mac won from an Art. player

& is in semi finals

The Crocus Snowdrops &

primroses are coming up

into blossom.

Heard from Bexhill - Tom

has been discharged from

the Army as medically

unfit. Dorothy is glad to

have him safe back - his

nerves are temporarily upset

1918 FRIDAY 22 FEB.

H.R. went to Outtersteen where

they are preparing for a

Concert

Discord in the Sports club

over the supply of beer to

the winning Section on

Sports Day - The Col.

settled it by giving £5 for

all - - the majority are

satisfied.

have a much larger say in the

affairs of the State - Men have

had a sole say in governing

the nations for hundreds of

years & women can't do worse

than ^at the present climax.

[*↑*]

FEB. SATURDAY 23 1918

Meeting of the Literary Circle in

evening at the village School -

One chaps left a number of works

of art on the blackboards including

a map of Australia - The children

attend school on Sat & have Wed.

holiday - Barlow gave a paper

on Ukraine the new Russian

state - a short history of its

growth as a separate country.

& its aims & present government.

Holt read an interesting sketch on

HG Wells book "Love & Mr Lewisham",

portraying the different characters.

& some thoughts on the social

problems brought up in the book.

there followed a rather interesting

discussion - Dad Smith gave

us a very good paper on the

Ideals of the British Empire,

he has spent a lot of time

& thought in writing it up.

A Social Democrat Govt. is

his ideal form of Govt. & he

thinks that the new women's

franchise will be largely used

in bringing the Socialist party

into power - Women should