Photostat copy of diaries of Benjamin Bennett Leane, 1915-1916 - Part 27

102                    

before I leave. I shall be very

anxious to know the result.
Today the Huns put three

shells into the camp, but they

were all "duds". I have two

of them outside my dugout now,

quite intact. One of them

went clean through the Scouts

dugout, burrowed under the

floor and forced up the duck-

boards. The scouts were all 

out training at the time, and

when they came back they

began to rouse because someone

(as they thought) had been in 

disturbing their room. And

then one of them discovered the

unexploded shell and the place

where it had entered.
Thursday 12^th Folkestone Hotel, Boulogne.

Jove, it is good to taste real

civilisation again. To live under

civilized conditions, to eat good, 

well cooked, civilized meals;

to sleep in comfy, clean

civilised beds. This hotel is

the "IT" of Boulogne, and very

nice too. Major Imlay and 

I are sharing a room -two

elegant beds, deep-piled carpets,

up to date furniture, electric

light at head of each bed,

over wash stand, on writing 

table, bells to hand everywhere, 

hot baths, lift, chambermaid,

valet, tea and toast in bed, 

everything the heart could 

desire ___ except you.
We arrived here at 2pm

104      

too late to catch the boat to

England, so have to stay until

tomorrow. However, it is no

hardship, and as our ten

days commences from the date

of leaving Boulogne, the extra

day here is a kind of

backsheesh holiday. Of our

journey here there is not a

great deal to say - the 

walk through the trenches,

illuminated by the bright,

soft light of the German flares,

with the occasional hiss of

a bullet, or the crash of

a "rum jar" ___ the tramp

through the mud of the

wood wherein lie our support

lines, there we found

the grooms waiting with the
horses (our luggage had already

gone on ahead) ___ then the 

ten mile ride in the moonlight,

with horses that had not been

ridden for a week: that, 

and the keen wind that

was blowing made them

particularly fresh and 'free',

so that they needed no

spurs to urge them; it was

one of the most enjoyable

rides I have ever had - 

then the arrival at Bailleul

to find that the leave train

had been cancelled and a 

motor bus substituted; we 

slept the night at Bailleul ___

then next morning we caught

the motor bus at 7.30am;

a long, jolting, tiring ride

106      

through Outersteene, Merris, Strazeele,
Borre, to Hazebrouck, gradually

leaving the signs of war -

the sound of guns, the broken

homes, the billetted soldiers-

further and further behind.

Then the long train journey

from Boulleck ^Hazebrouck to Boulogne,

leaving at 10.15 am and arriving

at 2pm. And here we

are. This afternoon, after

luncheon, we took a fiacre

to the Ordinance stores, where I

purchased a jacket. Then

to a tailor's to have it altered

to fit. Then to the pictures

to see Charlie Chaplin and 

others. And then back

to the Hotel to dinner at 9pm.

And now I have just had
a nice hot bath and am

sitting in my pyjamas at the

writing table in my room

making this entry. So good-

night and pleasant dreams

sweetheart. Tomorrow night

will see me in England___

I wish it was to meet you.

Friday 13^th London.

Fancy sailing on Friday, and 

the 13^th, and not getting wrecked!

Thus always is superstitition when

defied. We had a fairlu

rough passage across, nevertheless.

The boat left Boulogne at 11am

sharp, and arrived at Folkestone

at 2.0pm. Caught the boat

express and arrived at London

at 4.15pm having luncheon on

the train en route. Went round
108
Ted, made an appointment

with them for 5pm, went to

Junior Army & Navy Stores to

do some shopping, back to

meet Ted, home to his hotel

(Red Court, Bedford Place) to

dinner, and after dinner to

Chu Chin Chow" at His Majesty's.

Have just got home from

there. Enjoyed it immensely.

Oscar Asche is a wonderful

stage-manager.
Wednesday October 18^th 1916 Bradford.

Every night I've promised myself

that I would make an entry

in my little book, and

every night I - haven't.

However, I'm going to bed

fairly early tonight (it is

only half past eleven) so
here goes. Chicken dear, I am

hoping and hoping to see you

here soon. Tonight

we had the Dawson's and the Walkers

in for the evening; I was

sitting on the couch with

Aunt Agnes and picturing 

you there. I wanted to

put my arm round her

and hug her but I thought

she would wonder what had

'come o'er" me, But I do

want you so much, Kiddie,

and since I have thought of

you coming I have wanted

you more and more. I shall

be awfully disappointed if

you don't come.
Well now, to tell you

what I have been doing

110

all this time. I arrived

here about 10.45pm Sunday

and gave them all a great

surprise as they had not

expected me until Monday.

When I rang the bell Uncle

Arthur thought it was a

special constable come to

tell him he had too much

light showing, so of course,

he was very pleased to

find it was only me, and

nothing as expensive as

a 40/- fine. Bradford

is awfully dark nowadays

-or more correctly nowanights

-because of the Zepps.

Monday night we spent

at the Perkins", and had

some music. The three
girls are just as jolly as ever

and young Bae is particularly

sweet. She is my favorite

by a very great margin.

She dances very gracefully;

her toe-dancing is wonderful, I 

think. Afterwards she dressed

up in some of her brother's

nuttiest clothes - fancy socks

and all - and came

in smoking a cigarette. She 

is very clever in her

make-up, and acts up to

it the whole time. She is a

great kiddie altogether and

I am sure you will like

her as much as I do. When 

I first met her on Monday

afternoon - we were all

going to the pictures altogether

112

I kissed her, and she

colored up, like fun, and

went worse when we all 

teased her. However, she

kissed me goodbye tonight

quite readily, so it is quite

alright. She is not old

enough yet to be affected

or "flapper-ish", and harmless.

Bye and bye of course I

shall have to be contented

with a handshake. But then

I hope I will have you

to kiss. Last night we

all went to a performance

of "The Geisha". This afternoon

Uncle Arthur and I went

to Ilkley, and walked

back round the edge of the
moors to Menston. Tomorrow

I am going to Manchester to

see some old friends there,

and then back to London.

By the way, you hubby

is a major now. Don't you

feel awfully important, being

the wife of Major Leane.

However, it's only temporary

yet, and I might yet

have to take back my rank

of Captain. As soon as

it is made "pukka" I will

increase your allotment, 

but of course I can't do

that while it is only temporary.

Goodnight darling old sweetheart.

I hope that in less than

two months we may be 

sharing the bed I am going to

sleep alone in tonight.

114

Thursday Oct 26^th. Boeschepe

Over a week without an entry!

Frightfully lazy, am I not?

I arrived back here on Tuesday

about noon, and found the 

battalion in billets instead of

the trenches as I had expected.

We leave tonight for the

Somme again. Of course it will

be several days yet before

we are actually in the trenches;

in the meantime we will,

I expect be moving on from

one town to another as before.

We have to entrain at 9 o'clock

tonight and expect to reach

our destination, Longfire,

at about six o'clock tomorrow

morning. I am acting as

second in command at present,
as Major Imlay is still away. 

As soon as he returns I will take

command of D Coy.
Let's see now, I suppose I had 

better tell you all my movements

from last Wednesday. Well, on

Thursday I went to Manchester,

as I told you I intended

doing. In the evening I went

to "Hobson's Choice" at the Princes

Theatre there. It was splendid.

You must see it sometime.

Friday morning I caught an

early train to London, arriving

at about 2 pm. Had several

things to do during the

afternoon. In the evening

I stayed in (at the hotel)

and yarned to Ted, wrote

some letters, and went to

116
bed early. On Saturday afternoon
Ted and I went to a matinee

"Peg o' my Heart" and in 

the evening to Broadway

Jones". I enjoyed them both

very much, particularly

the latter. Seymour Hicks

in the name part was intensely

funny. That also you must

see when you come over.

Sunday morning I stayed

late in bed, and Sunday

afternoon caught the staff

train to Folkestone, arriving

there at about 7 pm. Went

to the "Royal Pavilion" Hotel, and

had an excellent dinner, and

afterwards went to bed early

as there was nothing else to

do. Monday evening
I caught the 9.30am boat

to Boulogne, arriving there

at 11am. Could not get a

train until 7 pm so took

a walk around the town until

lunch time. After lunch at

the Officers' Club I went by

tram to Winnereana to see

young Philippeson, Clarie

Fairlie's chum. He was

wounded at Mouquet Farm

and has since lost his leg

and has also developed

consumption. The poor boy

is very ill, and I am

afraid he will not live long.
The remainder of the afternoon

I spent in writing letters at the

club. We arrived at

Hazebrouck about midnight,

118

in a drizzling rain. There

was not train to Bailleul until

10 next morning, so those 

of us who were going on

had to hunt for lodgings

for the night. The hotel

was already crowded, so

six of us slept in our

clothes on narrow lounges.

Next morning after breakfast

and a shave I felt

pretty right, and left for

Bailleul at 10am arriving

about 11am. Collins, the

groom, met me there

with my horse and a 

lumber for my luggage, and 

at about 12.30 the journey

ended.
I found a great batch
of letters waiting me, including 

two from darling you. You

seem to have quite made up

your mind to come to England

so I hope you are on your

way by now. So far I

have not received any cable

from you, but I am expecting

one daily. If it doesn't

come soon I will cable

Norman. If you come

via America as you think

of doing you will probably

disembark at Liverpool, in

which case we would go

direct to Bradford;but

if the boat calls at Southampton

we will break the 

long train journey at London

and have a day or to there.

120

I am quite expecting to see

you before Christmas, and

won't it just be bonny!

So come Kiddie dear; I 

want you so very much.

Sunday, Oct 29^th. Villers-sous-Ailly.

We reached this place on Friday

about 1pm. The train journey

from Godewaersvelde (a five mile

march from Boeschope) to Longfire

where we detrained) took us

from 10pm on Thursday to 9am

on Friday. The Doc and I had

a first class carriage to ourselves

so we stretched out each on a 

seat and slept nearly the

whole way. I got out

once at Boulogne to see if

everything was alright; it 

was about 4am then, and
everyone except the horse picquet

was asleep. The men were in

big horse boxes; thirty to a

truck, all covered in, and

quite snug in their blankets.

We soon entrained, and got

the wagons and horses off,

and by 10am we were

on the march. We halted

fairly early and had

breakfast; (that is the best

of these travelling kitchens; you

cook your meal as you march

along, and when it is ready

you halt and eat it. So

much better than the old business

of having to carry a cold

ration in your haversack).

Villers-sous-Ailly is a little 

village snuggled away in a