Diary of Oberlin Herbert Gray, January to August 1918 - Part 8

1918  THURSDAY 25  APRIL

Anzac Day.

Fairly quiet, some big

shells passing over us towards

Cassell -

The day was celebrated by

a football match between

the Anzacs & "Dinkums"

the latter won. - 

Several

An obsn. Baloon ascended

200 yds away, it will draw

"crabs" before long -

The evening was celebrated

by a good many in vin rouge

& champagne & several

hilarious spirits had an

impromptu Concert on their return. 

 

APRIL  FRIDAY 26  1918

Quiet - a heavy mist

hung over the country, obscuring

the hills & Cassel -

News of Naval landing

at Zeebrugge & attack on

Ostend  - Concrete laden cruisers

were blown up with endeavour

to block channel.

1918  SATURDAY 27  APRIL

Freddy Whitcombe had his toe

run over by a GS Wagon, &

crushed, he is lamed for a

few days, it is rather amusing

seeing him hop round with a 

stick - he is like a little sparrow.

He is familiarly known as

Garcon & is a great favourite -

C Section is favoured by the

inclusion among its numbers of

a very decent lot of fellows;
x

Rumors of severe fighting around

Locre & Kemmel & Veerstraat.

Most of the places we were in

during Jan & March are now

in Fritz hands.

Scotty & I walked across to a

farm near St.Sylvestre to see Madam

Lemaitre & Marcelle, with whom

we stayed when at Sec Bois

Madam is heartbroken at having lost

her home after all, she lost

most of her stock, including the

big pig worth £ 700Fr. - Marcelle

seemed happy enough, & had grown,

She hadn't forgotten us. - 

 

APRIL  SUNDAY 28  1918

Quiet day - All civilians

have had orders to leave

Hazebrouck-

Cassell open to troops on

leave - those that who have

been in say that most of residents

are evacuees from Bailleul

& Caestre, & that many of the 

former residents have fled -

A very heavy bombardment 

in aftn & evg.  All through the

night guns were crashing & shells

bursting, some fairly close, along

the front from Hazebrouck to Locre.

Fritz has capt. Kemmel Hill

& 6500 ? prisoners -

Eng. papers admit losses of 1000

guns 5000 mgs. & 3 wks supply

of stores on Somme sector

during this years fighting -

1918  MONDAY 29  APRIL

Heavy bombardment all day

B. Sect "Standing by to move

off - On duty night.
 

APRIL  TUESDAY 30  1918

Orders came through about 2 PM

to take off up a dressing station

towards Caestre, so after loading

wagons C Sect marched off, while

B sect. left soon after for Caestre.

We formed a MDS at a farm

occupied by 1^st Dn Arty, - no

accomodation so found bivouacs

in wagons etc-  I slept in the

stable - just across the road a 

bomb was dropped 2 nights ago

onto the stables an arty dump

caught fire & the place was a 

shambles - 13 horses & 4 men

were killed - a wakeful night,

O. not feeling well, on night

duty -

We erected tents for A Sect.,

they marched in about 8 PM.

1918  WEDNESDAY 1  MAY

Unloading wagons Retd to

the last MDS, which the

French are taking over, for

the remainder of stores,

loaded wagons A Sect, PM

for Hondeghem - We followed

them about 6 PM, 3 kilos,

Our news from home is between

H. & the siding where we alighted

On return from Somme - It is

a farm with a large field

adjoining, a few scattered apples

& a clear pond, surrounded by 

pollarded willows - The green

turf is starred with daisies

& the hawthorn hedge surrounding

is in bud - A show of 

pretty light foliaged trees is

planted a short distance from

hedge, round the field & our

bell & square opq tents are

pitched in a line near them. 

 

MAY  THURSDAY 2  1918

Fine & warm

Unloading wagons, & reloaded

2 with unnecessary Stores -

Pitched 3 large tents for

QM Store etc. -

The 12^th bn last night were

sbombed shelled in their billets near

Borre not far from here.

A shell burst on the roof of one

of the huts & all inside were hit

11 killed & 19 wounded, the place

was right alongside the railway

& no protection from trees -

One of our drawbacks is the

lack of protection, We depend

 on farmhouses & trenches while

Fritz builds concrete dugouts

etc. - The 1^st Divn has done

a great deal of protective work

since it arrived, this sector

was undefended at all when

the "push" came.

1918  FRIDAY 3  MAY

A warm Spring day

ideal weather.

The Irish Guards Grenadier

Gds & Coldstream Gds are

camped around here -

The French are on our

left - The Guards did a 

lot of fighting near here & were

relieved by Austn 1^st Dn. after

rushing back from Amiens.

Saw 21 aeroplanes together

in the skies -

O & I went into Houdeghem on pass

& round some of the pretty

roads near - everything looks

at its best - 

 

MAY  SATURDAY 4 SUNDAY 5  1918

A number of H.E. shrapnel fell

near the camp.

Heavy artillery fire during the

night -

Col Elliott of 12^th Bn. has had

the Legion of Honour presented to him

During the afternoon a heavy

thunderstorm passed over us

followed shortly after by a

downpour of large hailstones:

The turf was under an

inch of water in many places,

& the tents leaked badly.

1918  SUNDAY 5  MAY

MAY  MONDAY 6  1918

Several old boys have returned 

to the unit - One or two were

very disgusted at being sent back

before new reinforcements - there

are several thousands of these at

the base & in Eng - Rations

are light in Eng. but much

better in France at the

base.  Here we have nothing

to talk about - the bread is

still white, have had standard

bread only a few times.

Cheese margarine & jam or

marmalade - 2 oz tobacco & 1

matches a week - the latter 

are scarce otherwise.

1918  TUESDAY 7  MAY

Raining heavily from

early morning.

Not many casualties coming

through  a few shrapnel

shells burst near.

B Sect returned from Meteren they

have been living well, & fortunately 

not very busy -

C Section move up to morrow. 

 

MAY  WEDNESDAY 8  1918

C Section & some of A Sect left

Hondeghem at 2 P.M. by "bus", nearly

into Hazebrouck, then North to Borre

where 1^st F.A have a post.  Remained

there until evening - Borre is very

much knocked about & most of the

places have been looted of any

valuables left.  - The Church is

rather picturesque, surrounded by

trees - it has a low tower - The FSR

were observing from the tower for the

artillery - - Moved off at 7.30 up the

main road past Pradelles, off to left -

& A. Simpson my sq remained at loading

post on road from Strazeele to Caestre -

A.S. Went to 9^th Bn RAP beyond Strazeele.

They changed over that night &

ran into a barrage - A.S. carried

over to us, he needed another squad

so we made 2 trips across country

through crops & across ditches.

Fortunately it was light enough

to find our way - A large

fire in direction of Strazeele Stn.-

Got to bed at 4.30 AM.

1918  THURSDAY 9  MAY

1^st F.A. Squad on gas guard & they

prepared breakfast-, a quiet day.

Met Charlie Iremonger of Sydney

he lived in next dugout on

Gallipoli - Now a car driver.

The houses all round are

damaged by shell fire, & in

great disorder inside after

hurried departure of owners -

Neat gardens with young crops of

leeks peas potatoes etc & fruit

trees -  One large walnut tree

in next farm has stopped a shell

direct, & fallen among wallflowers &

other Eng garden flowers -

A dead mule & broken wagon

lie at the opposite corner -

The troops have lived on sheep &

pigs & poultry since coming up -

A clutch of chickens & 2 goats with

kids are running about there, we

^partly milked the goats for tea -

Went over to 9^th RAP to relieve AS

at 6 PM.  Major M. came up for us

to go to 11^th RAP near Sec Bois at dusk

Went down in car, along a shell

torn road, with occasional shells

passing overhead. 

 

MAY  FRIDAY 10  1918

Up early - very misty

Walked over to Strazeele - met Cpl

Rendall who was coming to see

me so I saved him the journey.  Heard

the Cuckoo for first time this Spring-

Walked along railway it is destroyed in parts

& mined, trenched & barricaded.

Secured our belongings from old post &

called for haversacks at RAP 9^th Bn -

returning same way towards Sec Bois

& along Line -   At 1 PM moved

off to new R.A.P. at a farm near

Strazeele Station - No casualties

in 11^th last night.  The farm

was in an awful condition, barn

burnt to the ground, house damaged

by shells & dead livestock all

around - We dragged several out

of the stables & yard - 9 cows &

calves 2 pigs & several fowls dead

(not fresh) Cleaned up 2 rooms, &

2 cellars, the latter for sleeping

accomodation - Several shells fell

around the Station - 3 or 4 houses

blazing towards East - 300 or 400 yds away.

Couldn't make any smoke till

dark so didn't have dinner

till 11 PM to midnight - Easther cooked

1918  SATURDAY 11  MAY

meat, potatoes & leeks - with coffee

freshly ground & mixed with chicory (of

which there is a big store)  The

stove is the usual French style

very compact - A badly wounded

case about 2 AM.  shot through

chest, we had him propped up on

a chair - & Capt McLeod of 12^th

Bn, a one armed officer, was also

wounded again (in thigh)  He is a

wonder, he had taken out a small

party & ran into a Boche [[stet?]] post

800 yds away from here - he & 3

others wounded - there is no line

as we understand it, they scarcely

know where Fritz is in places.

A fine bright day, stayed in

till dusk, & then went down

to next post for rations.

There are quite a lot of household goods

left in this place - It has been a

fine farm & it must have been heartbreaking
for Madame Gilloots & her

daughter Désirée to leave it - I can

imagine her to have been a jolly nice

girl, from photos & postcards lying

about - Mons Gilloots was evidently a

wealthy farmer (Cultivateur) & had

numerous Certificates of Merit from

Hazelbrouck & Strazeele Shows. 

 

MAY  SUNDAY 12  1918

We found ^Eng. magazines & periodicals of June

1915 so evidently Eng. troops were billeted

here at one time.

A number of stretcher & walking cases

about dusk - a shell came right

into a group of 11^th Bn, at a

billet in supports - One officer

killed & one wounded - and 10 or

12 other men - It is wonderful

how they bear the pain - One had

his foot terrible shattered & the M.O.

contemplated amputating at once, but

thought there might be a chance,

Another had both legs taken off.

Give them a cigarette & they lie

without a sound while the dresser

probes or bandages in splints -

The "Thomas Splint" is a great

boon, a great many cases

are leg wounds - A disturbed

night, slept late & no cases during

day - Sandbagged room above

our cellar for added protection

Numbers of shells fell within

easy distance, only pellets striking

our house.

Changed over at dusk with 1^st F.A.

Went down to loading post from whence

1918  MONDAY 13  MAY

Horse amb. took 17 of us down to Borre

There we stopped for tea & then on

to Honighem which we reached at

1 PM.  There was a fine display

of searchlights & several Boche

machines overhead - We could

hear the distinctive drone of

their engines, after dropping a

number of bombs they departed

Returning along to road to H.

We passed numbers of guns in

action & the sky was lit

up by the flashes of bursting

shells, star shells & more

than one burning building -

This country will soon be as

much wrecked as the district

of Ypres & Wytschaete etc -

Shells were falling heavily

on Mont des Cats, where the 

large Monastery is. I was near

it last October.

Rain fell heavily at night. 

 

MAY  TUESDAY 14  1918

A glorious day.

Saw 12 of our planes going

over to see Fritz - 3 of

his were over us, dropping

visiting cards in a most

impolite manner. -

At night there were perhaps

a dozen Gothas over,

For a couple of hours, the

sky was brilliant with

searchlights, & Archies &

M.Gs making a great commotion.

Every now & then the ground

shook with the explosion

of a bomb