Diary of George Booley, 5th Battalion, AIF, 1918, Part 2

JANUARY—1918.
21 Monday—Sun rises 7.57, sets 4.26.

Got a special Guide (Miss
Doyle) & went to see the
Hotel de Ville (or Town Hall, &
the Palais de Justice, (the law
Courts) in our wanderings
we came into the Criminal
Court where there was a murder
trial on. The Hotel de Ville
is a magnificent place & the
wealth in it can be understood
when each of the chairs
cost £100, the paintings are
fine although typically French.
We then went through
the Louve stores to do
some shopping. In the
evening there was a dance
at the Club & I sat & looked
on.

JANUARY—1918.
22 Tuesday—Sun rises 7.56, sets 4.28.

Morning went & booked
seats at the Opera Comique.
In the afternoon went on
another ride through the
Bois de Boulogne with
Miss Johnston & had an
enjoyable time of it. In
the evening had dinner
with Miss Doyle & then
went to the Opera, the
piece was Beatrice a
modern Opera. I was
nearly forgetting to
mention that we had a
burglar in our room during
the early hours & Bill
awoke to find his clothes
missing, I found them in
the lavatory with money
gone, I had the bulk of
our money & it was left. 

JANUARY—1918.
23 Wednesday—Sun rises 7.54, sets 4.30.

Brings us to our last day in
Paris we went to Versailles.
with the motor party with
Miss Doyle & had a real good
day, the dinner there being
splendid, the Chateau at
Versailles is one of the prettiest
I have seen it was the dwelling
place of several Kings
& has a fairly long & interesting
history attached to it.
We finished the trip about
5.30 & just had time to
get a meal & get to the
station in a Taxi, the
train left at 7.20 & was
very crowded making
sleep out of the question.  

JANUARY—1918.
24 Thursday—Sun rises 7.53, sets 4.32.

Arrived Calais about 7.AM.
after a rotten nights travel, the
carriages were heated too much
& the Frenchies would not let the
windows down. We had to wait
in Calais till 1.15. PM for a
train, we wandered round
the Town for a while but it was
horribly dull after Paris,
we filled in a couple of hours
at Billiards. Arrived at
Bailleul about 5 PM. & set
out for the 1^st Div supply
Column where Bill has
some Friends who put us
up for the night & fed us,
we slept in a motor wagon. 

JANUARY—1918.
25 Friday—Sun rises 7.51, sets 4.34.
Conversion of St. Paul.

Had dinner in Bailleul &
then set out for Kemil we
walked about half the
distance & when we got there
found the wagon lines had
shifted to Wulverghem, at
least the Bn were there, we
found the Bn & had to
then walk to Neuve Eglise
for our equipment which
cut out the day & brought
to an end my much
dreamt of Paris leave,
it has been the most pleasant
8 days I have spent & I
dont regret one penny
spent, but I must say
I have to thank the Ladies
of the Club for such a good
time. 

JANUARY— 1918.
26 Saturday— Sun rises 7.50, sets 4.36.

Was pulled out of bed under
false pretences first to go for a
bath & second the Brigadier
was coming to inspect neither
events came off. We were
paid & I put in a claim
for Harry being the only
notable items for the
day. 

JANUARY—1918.
27 Sunday— Septuagesima.
Mg.—Gen. i. & ii. 1-4. Rev. xxi. 1-9.
Evg.—Gen. ii. 4, or Job xxxviii.
Rev. xxi. 9 to xxii. 6.
3h 14m Morn.

Inspection this morning
at 10.30, nothing else doing.
Harry came to see me & 
stayed till after tea.
I went to Neuve Eglise
for a walk.  

JANUARY—1918.
28 Monday—Sun rises 7.47, sets 4.39.

A fine day for this part of the
world it was for all the world
like a Aust Winters day after the
frost goes off, the sun shone
brightly all day & with some
warmth. About midday 3
bombs burst quite near here
& a fourth one a dud was dug
up & was found to have an
English name on it 1917, some
thing for the intelligence to
find out. Just before sun
down not far off we could
hear the "Dead March
being played & later 8
volleys, this is the first
time I have known of a
funeral with military
honors in France.
Much aerial work. 

JANUARY—1918.
29 Tuesday— Sun rises 7.46, sets 4.40.

Moved through Dranute
to Birr Barracks near the
Town of Lochre about 5 miles
we arrived well before dinner.
The day was lovely. The Bn
that relieved us was the
one Jim Mackinlay is in
but they had not arrived
when we left.

JANUARY—1918.
30 Wednesday—Sun rises 7.44, sets 4.42.

All we did today was
clean up our equipment
rifles etc, the equipment was
scrubbed, blancoed & the
brass work polished, the
rifles got a horrible fright
it was the first time I
ever saw the Lads get
down & clean with such
good heart. Just as we
were getting well into bed a
great commotion arose owing
to the Officers huts being
on fire, there was a great
rush thither & such a yelling
& hammering you never
heard, Officers in scant attire
also O.R. throwing water about
& knocking huts down
with improvised tools.

JANUARY—1918.
31 Thursday—Sun rises 7.43, sets 4.44.

Parades commence again
our part was buzzer in
the hut, we salvaged
some wood from last
nights fire & had a good
fire in the hut.
The afternoon parade was
sporting in which we
did not participate
The day has been very cold. 

FEBRUARY—1918.
1 Friday—Sun rises 7. 42, sets 4.46.
Partridge and Pheasant Shooting end.

Another very cold day,
parade in the morning
& in the afternoon I
walked to Bailleul
to buy a broom to sweep
out our hut.

FEBRUARY—1918.
2 Saturday—Sun rises 7.40, sets 4.48.
Purification.

Morning parade, in
the afternoon Harry & I
went to see the 8^th & 6^th
play football & after
tea went to a Concert
party of the 4^th Div
known as the smart
set, it was a fine
show. The Hun bombed
Bailleul & during the
night did a lot of
bombing.  

FEBRUARY—1918.
3 Sunday—Sexagesima.
Mg.—Gen. iii. Mat. xix. 3-27.
Evg.—Gen. vi. or Gen. viii. Acts xx. 17.

A very short church
parade & just as well as
it was very cold, as soon
as parade was over we
were dismissed & not
worried for the rest of the
day, we have at present
a more considerate C.O
than any we ever had
& I can safely say he
is better thought of for
it. Went to Dranute in
the afternoon & in the
evening went to a
voluntary church parade
Bunty Palstran came
to see me. 

FEBRUARY—1918.
4 Monday—Sun rises 7.36, sets 4.52.
7h 52m Morn.

Parade in morning
nothing doing in the
afternoon. 

FEBRUARY—1918.
5 Tuesday—Sun rises 7.35, sets 4.53.

Parade in morning
in the afternoon the
1^st 18 played 24 others
football & the 1^st 18 won
Harry was down &
we again went to
the Smart set, there
was a change of
programme 

FEBRUARY—1918.
6 Wednesday—Sun rises 7.33, sets 4.55.

Morning parade as
usual, I was told
today unofficially
that it was being
arranged for me to go
to Blighty for a course
of School & then for
Instructional work,
I hope it is true.  

FEBRUARY—1918.
7 Thursday—Sun rises 7.32, sets 4.56.

We went & did field
firing in training for
the A.R.A competitions
to come off soon, we had
to run 100 yds fire 10
rounds run another
100 yds & fire another
10 rounds, our fellows
did not do so bad.
Harry came to the
Bn, his transfer
being through.
In the afternoon
the 5^th played the
A.S.C football team
& beat them.

FEBRUARY—1918.
8 Friday— Sun rises 7.30, sets 4.58.
Half-Quarter Day.

The Bn went for a
route march through
La Clete & Reninghelst,
I went to Bailleul, had
a bath, went to a
picture show in the
afternoon & in the
evening went to see
the "Sentimental
Blokes" getting back
to camp about 9 oclock
One of the original
men went Home 

FEBRUARY—1918.
9 Saturday—Sun rises 7.28, sets 5.0.

Parade in the morning
in the afternoon the
Football team played
the 6^th & beat them
making two wins in
the competition.
Pay day