Diary of George Booley, 5th Battalion, AIF, 1918, Part 1

JANUARY—1918.
1918. 1 JAN. Tuesday—
Sun rises 8.8, sets 3.58.

Commencement of another
Year, most of the day I
spent between the Blankets
well down in a deep dugout.
The opening of this
year finds me still in
France, this time, or at
least I should say Belgium,
the location is in a reserve
position between Messines
& Wyschaete.
  

JANUARY—1918.
2 Wednesday— Sun rises 8. 8, sets 4.0.

Arose about 10 AM & had
a wash & clean up by
dinner time. In the
evening I had a conference
with the Sig Officer over
things that took place while
in the line, I wanted to
know if he was satisfied
if not I would revert to the
ranks, he was much surprised
& said if anything
was said it was'nt him
in fact he said he was that
well pleased that he had
recommended me for a
Commission.
New Moon.
D First Quarter.
0 Full "
& Last " 

JANUARY—1918.
3 Thursday—Sun rises 8.8, sets 4.1.

Got paid. In the afternoon
went to Kemil for
a walk & coming back
saw Jack Helyar but
not to speak to, he was
passing on the light
railway. Hap left for
School.
 

JANUARY—1918.
4 Friday— Sun rises 8.7, sets 4.2.

Did not get out of bed until 2PM
so of course missed dinner but
that did not do us much harm.
Harry came to see me & after Tea
I walked out beyond Wyschatte
with him, ready orders to
sleep standing as it were to
night, last night same thing
in vogue but they could not
find Bill & myself so we
slept on. Just as we were
retiring for the night the Hun
opened up & broke our line
but it was a short job. 

JANUARY—1918.
5 Saturday—Sun rises 8. 7, sets 4.3.
11h 50m Morn.

Arose at 11 this morning
after dinner I went to the
wagon lines & posted a
small parcel away from
Harry to Bella for a wedding
present. arriving back just
in time for tea, but was
disappointed at finding no
mail for me, yesterdays mail
must have only been a
spasm 

JANUARY—1918.
6 Sunday—Epiphany. Twelfth Day.
Mg.-Is. lx. or Is. xIii. Luke iii. 15-23.
Evg.-Is. xlix. 13-24. or Is. xliii. or Is. xliv.
John ii. 1-12.

In the morning I went up
forward & got some shell cases
I put in for Paris leave. The
day was very cold with a
very biting wind. 

JANUARY—1918.
7 Monday—Sun rises 8.6, sets 4.6.

Relieved by the 6^th Bn, I
came down early but had
little or nothing to do, got
5 letters or Xmas cards.
We are again in Ramellise
Camp near Kemil.

JANUARY—1918.
8 Tuesday—Sun rises 8.6, sets 4.8.

Last night was very cold in
spite of the fact that I had 3
blankets, in the morning
it was snowing heavily &
a cold North wind blowing,
after dinner Bill & I went
to Neuve Eglise, the place
was a sheet of white and
as fine a Wintry scene as
could be imagined, every
tree & bush bare of leaves,
the roads were like glass,
croppers were numerous &
the going hard, I saw Jack
Helyar, it was not him I
saw the other day, he is
well & is now a L/cpl. We
had a bath in the morning
& filled in the time waiting
snowballing.    Heavy bombardment
in early
morning 

JANUARY—1918.
9. Wednesday—Sun rises 8.5, sets 4.9.

This morning it was snowing
up till near dinner time,
it was very cold owing to
the wind blowing. I had my
hat ironed in the morning
& in the afternoon had
my boots mended, I am
beginning to look a bit like
a soldier now. Harry came
along to see me again, I went
along the way with him
for a walk, the road was
like glass to walk on, I
assumed the prone position
three times on the way
hitting the ground with
elbow & knee & it hurts
when you do hit the
ground.

JANUARY—1918.
10 Thursday—Sun rises 8.4, sets 4.10.

Thaw set in, instead of ice
we have slush today, it
is of course much warmer
30 or 40 degrees I should
say. We had about half
an hours parade in the
morning & after that
nothing doing, I went for
a few short walks.
Heavy bombardment in early
morning

JANUARY—1918.
11 Friday—Sun rises 8.4, sets 4.12.

A fairly decent day for
this time of the year,
we were paid in the
afternoon & afterwards
I went up for a bath
& change of clothes.

JANUARY—1918.
12 Saturday—Sun rises 8.4, sets 4.13.
10h 36m After.

Went out to see Harry at his
post between Reninghelst
& Aluele, had dinner with
him & returned in time
for tea. Roads still sloppy
after the thaw. 

JANUARY—1918.
13 Sunday—1st after Epiphany.
Mg.—Is. li. Mat. viii. 1-18.
Evg.—Is. lii. 13 & liii. or Is. liv.
Acts viii. 5-26.

Received orders about 8AM
for all hands to fall in by
9 in drill order to form
part of Guard of Honour to Gen
Birdwood, something new for
us but we had to do it as all
the Coys were away, we got
there somehow, the Gen was
presenting medals & there
was no end of Red Tabs
there, as soon as the Gen
started to inspect the
guard his eye lighted on
me an old Soldier, he
shook hands & enquired
after my health etc.
Jack Helyar came to see
me. Informed that our
Paris leave was through

JANUARY—1918.
14 Monday—Sun rises 8.3, sets 4.15.

Received our passes at
9.30 & as the leave train
left Bailleul at 11.20 we
missed it as we had about
10 Kilos to walk, caught
ration train 4 oclock to
Hazebrouk, left there at 7.23
arriving at Calais 10.30
left Calais 11.PM for Paris.
The train down from
Hazebrouk was a poor
affair only 3^rd class carriages 
without lights
& the travelling was
about equal to the Mildura
minfied. The Paris
train was much more
comfortable, 4 of us had
a good warm carriage
& were able to sleep.

JANUARY—1918.
15 Tuesday—Sun rises 8.2, sets 4.17.

Arrived in Paris 10.30AM
feeling a bit tired, met by
a motor & taken to report
centre & drew some pay
then took a Taxi for the
Club. "Hotel Moderne"
arriving in time for lunch
we booked a double room
had a bath shave,
shampoo & a general
clean up. After dinner
in the evening there was
rather a good, Concert in
the Hall, most of the
Artists being from various
music halls, some of
the items were real
good, after the Concert
we had supper &
went to bed.

JANUARY—1918.
16 Wednesday—Sun rises 8.1, sets 4.19.

Took an all day trip guided
by a Lady, there were 9 of us in
the party, among the places
visited were,
Royal Place, Bastille, Louave
museum; a very old Church
one of Paris greatest shops
& the Royal palace, of the
lot Louave stands out alone
the buildings & ground 
encompassed cover 48 acres,
the buildings are all equal
in structure to the best of
our public buildings, The
Royal palace was as little like
a Royal palace was as one could
think. Our guide spoke
French fluently & when we
were having dinner she surprised
us by telling us she was born
in Aust. Theatre at night Follies 

JANUARY—1918.
17 Thursday—Sun rises 8.0, sets 4.20.

Slept most of the morning
after dinner went up &
drew some pay & then
went for a walk around
the place, Paris is not a
hard city to find your way
round in, so early in
our Stay we have come
to the conclusion that
Paris is the city of the
world, its streets are wonderful 
wide & clean, its
buildings a treat to look
at, there are fine little squares
everywhere making the
place plenty of breathing
space. We went to the
Alambra Alhambra in
the evening & had seats
in the Orchestra stalls
a music hall.

JANUARY—1918.
18 Friday—Sun rises 7.59, sets 4.21.

In the morning visited the
Sacred Couer Church & rode round
Paris in a motor with a party
from the Club after lunch went
to the Chateau Malmaison
in which Napoleon & Josephine
lived & after the divorce
Josephine lived there alone
it is not a large building
but is furnished with lovely
taste most of the furniture
being in a wonderful state
of preservation, there are
many relics of Napoleon
in the place, in all it
was a fine day out, Malmaison
is about an hour & a half out
from the City (this part). In evening 
went to Casino de Paris
& saw the famous Gaby dance. 

JANUARY— 1918.
19 Saturday—Sun rises 7.59, sets 4.22.
2h 38m After.

Went to Opera House & booked
tickets & after dinner went
with 13 other on a riding
party through the Bois de
Boulogne this is the Rotten
Row of Paris & a lovely
place, we went as far as
the Longchamps race
course where the Prix de
Paris is run, we caused
some stir riding round
the majority of the party
were Australians, it
was a very enjoyable time.
In the evening went with
a young lady from the Club
to the Opera Henry 8^th, she
translated for us, we had
a box on the first tier.

JANUARY—1918.
20 Sunday—2nd after Epiphany.
Mg.—Is. lv. Mat. xii. 1-22.
Evg.-Is. Ivii. or Is. lxi. Acts xii

Five of us with a special
guide did an all day trip
round embracing, Notre
Dame, Luxemburg Gardens
Les. Invalides, Big wheel,
Eiful Tower. Napoleons Tomb
it was a good day but
being Sunday most places
were crowded by civilians
In the evening we went
to the Church of England
Service in a Taxi & afterwards 
walked back to
the Club along the
Grand Boulevard which
was crowded with
people, we could hardly
walk, arrived in about
10 .PM. early for these days