Diary of Herbert Vincent Reynolds, 1917-1918 - Part 3

day news of how things are progressing is
eagerly looked for from those coming down from the
line. Soon after midday the heavy fog which
has been hanging about for several days past
lifted & the afternoon was fairly bright though
not very clear, our aircraft soon appeared on
the scene & had a chance of putting in some very
usefull work. One of our chaps " Robinson" was
pretty badly wounded today. At about 9 pm I helped
to load the ambulance train & afterwards turned in
I shifted my quarters into No 9 hut in case the night
squad required assistance during the night.
Tuesday 27^th
Very few wounded came down during
the night & I was not disturbed. During the day
I have been carrying patients from the trucks to the
dressing room, & where ever else needed we have been
kept rather buisy. One wounded fritz was brought
in this afternoon The day has been rather bright
& our aircraft have been very active, After loading
up the train at about 8 pm I was finished for
the day. A party of about, a doz reinfs arrived today
& the party returned to the unit from the Malte baths
Wednesday. 28^th
My mate & I have been able to work
on the new hut again, there are enough men in camp
to do the fatigues now & things have slackened
off a bit. The engineer chap has not been working
with us, he is required in the dump now that
things, are so busy with them. We put most of
the floor in the hut today The day has been dull
again & at times very foggy. A new type of
motor wagon, went up past here running on
the heavy railway, it is similar to the ordinary
road motor wagon only it has steel flanged
wheels. After tea I went up to Edwards
post with a couple of mates taking medical
stores up on a troley, we got towed behind
a motor train as far as Clarks dump
We got back to our camp at about 10 pm & brought
four walking patients down on the truck.
March
Thursday 1^st
A terrific bombardment was
in progress at about midnight last evening
Have been working on the new hut all day.
 

The parts of the Nissen hut are made by women
evidently, as we discovered two addresses on
parts of the hut of women who probably were
working on the parts. The day has been fine
with periods of sunshine. Enemy aircraft
have been active the afternoon. At about
3 pm our O C Lt Col Williams & Lcpl Shergold
were brought down wounded, the Col. is very
badly wounded in the lungs but the other
chap is suffering from a fractured femur
& is not very bad.
Friday 2^nd
We had another heavy frost this
morning, but the day has been fairly mild.
According to reports today a body of the enemy
200 strong attacked our main position during the
night, & after making a number of our chaps
prisoners & taking a machine gun they were set
upon by our advanced parties & the tables were
turned & our own men were released & between 30 &
40 of the enemy taken prisoners. About a doz
wounded fritzies came through here today & a
large number were in the prisoners compound.
 I have been working on the hut again today
The Col was sent away today on the midday train
he is looking extremely bad. I went for a stroll
through the Bazentin wood this evening, it is
not in such an advanced state of desolation as
Delvelle or Pozieres woods, but nevertheless it is
practically destroyed, the enemy have had some
magnificient observation posts in it.
Saturday 3^rd
During the midday spell I
went over come of the ground taken about
last Aug, by the state of the place some
desperate hand to hand fighting took place
around the particular portion of the line that
we went over. After tea I went for a
stroll towards Martinpuich with a couple
of mates we seen the result of a fall by
one of our aeroplanes it came to earth near
Martinpuich & was wrecked the observer
was wounded by a bullet in the leg but
the pilot was uninjured. The plane bore
the name South Australia, & was evidently
subscribed for by the people of that state.
 

Tuesd 6^th
At about 7 am. I was informed
that I was to pack my kit & go up to Millers
post with a party to relieve the 3^rd Fld Amb
chaps there. A mate & I reported at Millers
post & were then sent up to Edwards post
which we reached as about 10 30 am. At about
11 30 pm two mates & myself went down to the
A D S at Bazentin for rations, at the Seven
E line junction we met a train & fastened on
behind getting a pull right through to
Bazentin. At the A D S our unit were
handing over the place to the 6^th Fld Amb
our B sect nursing division are remaining
behind, the bearers are not being releived
for a few days but the remainder of the unit
are going back to Fricourt farm After
having a rather strenuous time pushing out a
well loaded truck we reached Edwards post
again at about 3.30 pm. Just as we arrived
back we seen one of our aeroplanes falling
after being shot with the enemys aircraft
shells it was well over the enemys lines
 & at first was falling like a shot bird & was
apparantly out of control, but after falling
for several seconds in that manner, the
machine suddenly nose dived straight for
earth of a terrific pace, & when we all thought
that nothing would happen but for the plane
to crash to earth, it suddenly came round
on its wing tips & flew some distance in
that manner then we could have all gave
a shout for joy for the machine slowly made
for home though he was then very low & over the
enemys line with their machine guns spitting
at it, but despite all that was against the
pilot fetching the machine into our lines, he
succeeded in doing so & landed across the
ridge towards Seven Elms. A Canadian
observation officer was in the dressing dugout
when we arrived back, the was brought down
in a plane near Factory corner this afternoon
At about 7 pm I took a streatcher case through
to Millers post. The day has been exceptionally
clear & the aircraft have been very active
The 5^th bgde have been changing over tonight.
 

Wednesday 7^th
The day has been just the
opposite to yesterday, a mist has been
obscuring the view further than a few hundred
yds & the wind has been bitterly cold.
At about 11 am two 6^th Fld Amb chaps came
to releive a mate & I so we had so pack up
& return to the A D S at Bazentin. We
started out on the ration truck a short way
down got a push along by a motor train, but
at the Northumberland loop at Drop Ally our truck
jumped the points & got broken up altogether
but no one got hurt, we had to toss the
broken truck aside & got on the train, which
took us to Clarkes dump. At Millers post
we got on a ration truck & rode to
Bazentin the track is mostly down hill &
the truck runs on it own. We reported at
the A D S & received instructions to continue
with the building in the morning, so
we had a look round for a dug out, our
old one has been occupied we decided to
 fix up the one we made use of first though
it needs a lot of fixing up.
Thurs 8^th
The day has been one of the
coldest that we have experienced yet, the
wind has been high & fairly goes through
everything, snow has been falling off & on
during the day. We have been unable to
do much work on the hut at all owing to the
excessive cold.
Friday 9^th
 

23^rd  Bapaume entered on 17^th
I got the day off along with two other
chaps & we went into Bapaume. On our way
up we passed through the village of La Barque
& then got on the main Albert Bapaume road
The enemy had a wide gauge railway along
the main Albert-Bapaume road the rails &
sleepers are still there & our pioneers are making
a narrow gauge line out of it. At several
places the enemy exploded mines beneath
the road to delay our transport but the craters
are being filled in as fast as possible & a
tempory road has been made round them.
 

Wednesday 28^th
The day has been fairly fine
Our aircraft & heavy guns have been extremely
active At about 2pm the 25^th batt were
paraded near the prisoners compound & Gen
Birdwood addressed the men & presented
a number of ribons to men who have won
decorations
Thurs 29^th
Extremely heavy rain fell this
morning & continued through the day.
April
Sunday 1^st
 

Tuesday 10^th
We were kept extremely
buisy all night a steady stream of wounded
came through for nearly 24 hrs. About a doz
wounded fritsies came through early the
morning. Snow has been falling off & on
all night & throughout the day. it has been
extremely cold. Our infty are still making
progress into the enemys line, & according
to reports the enemy have been thrust
back up arras way. C section of our unit
arrived here this afternoon at about 2 pm.
At about 4 30 pm three mates & I loaded
a Swiss Cottage tent into a motor & came
up to the new main Dressing Station
7 miles along the Cambrai road at a place
called Beugny. We put our equipment in
a bell tent out of the rain & snow & set to
helping to errect the hospital tents. The
enemy fired, over a few large shells overhead
into the open fields some distance over.
The road to Bapaume is pretty rough & in
four places the enemy have mined the
 

road & blown it up, all the trees along
the sides of the road have been sawn down
practically the whole length of the road.
Lines upon lines of wire entanglements
have been put over the country about here
Wednesday 11^th
Spent a fairly comfortable
night despite the condition of the floor, when we
came into it the tent, the floor was an inch deep in slush
but we hunted up one or two boards & a little
straw & made it as dry as possible. Revalie
at 6 30am parade at 7. am. During the day we
have been errecting the Swiss Cottage tents for
hospital wards. The day has been bitterly cold &
snow has fallen off & on xxxxxx the latter part
of the day. Air craft have been extremely
active despite the very high wind blowing.
At about 1 pm two aeroplanes fought each other
the result of which one crashed to earth, they
were away in the distance in the direction of
the line & we could not tell wether it was friend
or foe who met with disaster. At about 1 pm
I went for a stroll with a couple of mates for
a few minutes to the German cemetery where
about a thousand are burried in the village of
Beugny.
Thursday 12^th
The day has been rather cold but
aircraft have been fairly active despite the very
high wind that has been blowing all day.
I have been working today on a road to
run the ambulances over to load & unload,
Early Tuesd morning four of our chaps went
through wounded & a medical detail of
ours attached to the 3^rd Engrs died on the way
down to the C C S. The other chaps are Bolger
Cochrane Bladin & Pemberton. I went for
a stroll across to the brow of the hill opposite
our camp where a splendid view can be obtained
of the practically level country towards Cambrai.
Friday 13^th
The day has been fairly fine but
an extremely high wind has been blowing
Aircraft have been active & we witnessed an
exhibition of aerial manouvering that far
surpasses any thing that we have before seen
 

Two of our new bi planes looped the loop time
after time & dived & circled in every direction the
dived & suddenly began to spin like a windmill
diving straight for the earth a manouvre
we have never before witnessed. I went
across & watched one of our observation balloons
being factoned down for the night.
Saturday 14^th
The day has been fairly fine
but a high wind has been blowing
We witnessed another aerial exhibition by one
of our new aeroplanes this morning similar to
the one yesterday. I have been working on
the road again today.
Sunday 15th
The artillery both ours & the
enemys had been extremely native all night &
the bombardment was very intense at
about day break. Wild rumors were in
circulation this morning, which created a fair
amount of excitement, some were, that some of
our guns had been captured also that the
enemy had penetrated, our line.
 Wounded came down in large numbers after
about 7 am & continued to do so till late in the
afternoon. Early in the morning the enemy
seems to have attacked our line, this attack was
dispersed, the enemy retired when our inft got out
of their trenches & counter charged them. Later on
the enemy rushed our trenches in massed formation
& what followed is very hard to find out exactly
as the reports are all so conflicting, but any
ground that we lost in the rush was retaken
almost mediately & judging by the number of
enemy wounded & prisoners who passed through
here during the day, the enemy seems to have
had a severe thrashing the number of enemy
wounded prisoners far out numbered our
casualties. At about 8-30 am an enemy high
velocity gun began to shell up & down the
road in our vicinity most of the shells failed
to explode, one exploded directly in front of
our dressing station only about 20 yds away.
I spent the day unloading the ambulances
as they came in. A branch of the Australian
Comforts fund opened in the village today.
 

A YMCA opened up here also. An old mate
of mine Ken Saxby went through here wounded
today.
Monday 16^th
I have been working on the road
again today. A number of enemy wounded
passed through here today The 8^th bgde who
went up yesterday to support the 1^st div came
back again today. A couple of enemy planes
got over this far today. We witnessed the
descent of an observation officer from one of
our balloons in a parachute this afternoon
Tuesday 17^th
The day has been one of the
coldest that we have experienced, snow & sleet
& rain has been falling practically all
day have been working on the road.
Wednesday 18^th
Another extremely cold day
Have been loading bricks into waggons in
the village all day. Received parcel from
Vi.  Aircraft have not been active during the
last few days.
Thursday 19^th
Have been assisting to errect.
more Swiss Cottage tents today. At about 10 am
the enemy fired over 12 fairly large shells which
exploded in our near vicinity, they scattered
a pioneer working party there were 10
casualties besides a few horses injured.
At about 4 30 pm the enemy shelled the
village heavily for a while. After tea I
went for a walk to Fremicourt.
Friday 20^th
Spent the day errecting two
large tents for a gass centre the day has
been fairly fine.
Saturday 21^st
The artillery both ours & the
enemys was active all night. The enemy
fired 4 large shells into the near end
of the village this morning & repeated
the performance again this afternoon
There were three minor casualties. Have
been putting in a set of a steps up a bank 
today.