Diary of Lindsay Robert Turner, 1918 (Vol. 4) - Part 8

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handicapped by the rain the night before
Reveille has been fixed for 4 AM.
as we move out at 7.30.
23/6/18 It was indeed a problem to
get out this morning at 4 PM. We
didn't have much sleep the day before
and it was late enough when we
turned in. We were ready for
inspection at 7.30 and march off
at 7.40 on the main road to
Abbeville which was along the
valley of the Somme the whole way
and a magnificent journey it was
too thro' pretty little villages
nestling at the foot of the hills
and surrounded by magnificent
vegetation. We passed first
thro Ailly then crossed over
the Somme and up stream
along the right bank of the
river. Almost every village however
small possesses. its Chateau
surrounded by a high brick
wall and with a most beautiful
garden. and it reminded one
 

70

of the Manor Houses of Rural
England. Our destination was Bourdon
rather a neglected village some
15 kilos from Amiens tho possess-
ing a fine Hospice for the aged
and [supreme] and where he had
our mess tho' we were quartered
in tents just opposite. We had
a good position to bivouac.
and quite out in the open
the men being quartered in tents
as well which is much more
sanitary than the usual billets.
We are able to get as many
strawberries and vegetables
as we desired and after our
two months in the line we
thankfully enjoyed it. We arrived
at 1 and spent the afternoon
overhanding. the harness and
guns as further inspection is on
the cards for the morning we move
out at 7.45 AM. again and hope
to reach Erondelle about midday
 

71

24/6/8. We left Bourdon at the
appointed hour and it looked as if a
fine day was a head of us and so
it happened. It was even a more
successful day than the previous one
and the scenery was if anything
better as we got further North
The Somme River valley consists
of a number of lagoons and
shooting boxes are to be found
every where. tho' they are much
neglected as with the owners
away at the Front. It was very
dusty tho this the heavy mortar
Transport traffic and by the time
we reached our destination at
Erondelle it was well after 1.

The most important Village or

rather town was Flexecourt the
HQs of the 4th Comy. General
Sir Henry Rawlinson and his Staff
being quartered in a fine old Chateau
another very pretty village we passed
 

72

on the way was long, and even
Erondelle itself thou very much
smaller and somewhat more neglected
is a fine place for a rest area as
there is plenty of open ground
available and Pont Reing a large
Railhead is only a few Kilos away
The billeting is aways a difficult
matter to settle and usually very
unsatisfactory and this was no
exception. but we've been able
to erect tents and so solve the
problem. We ourselves are located
in a farmhouse vey clean
it is a quite handy to our 
lines. We spent the remainder
of the day settling down in our
temporary home and erecting
conveniences such as Harness
sheds feed dumps and racks.
We will be having Divisional
sports in the neighborhood very
shortly and most of our time will
be spent preparing for them in the
way of cleaning harness, vehicles etc
 

73
25/6/8. What a relief to wake up
and find there was no necessity to
go to O.P. or take a tour of duty around
the guns and last but not least to hear
no shells whistling around. I had been
orderly officer on the way down so saw
a good prospect of going into Abbeville
for the afternoon. Erondelle is about
7 kilos away and past a good
afternoon ride there and back
moreover we had to draw money to
pay the troops still was necessary
that someone should go. We had
to get mess stores as well so in
my Capacity as Mess Secretary  a
thankless  job - I took a ride into
Pont Reing rather a fine village
and a large Railhead and where
there was an E.F. Canteen to purchase
supplies. Pont Reing is a very pretty
village and has an old Chateau
which must have built as far
back as the 15th Century judging
by the design. It is at present
 

74
used as a H.Qs by a Tommy M.G.
crowd they always manage to get
all the good things going. Most of
the land in France seems to be owned
on the owner of these chateaus and
the farming Community rent the land
from him still they seem happy enough
Abbeville is rather a fine city
but besides being much neglected
has been shattered by bombs.
One particularly large bomb fell
on the monument in the Square
and wrecked not only it but
every house in the vicinity Its
dastardly the way these Cities
have been bombed and one
narrowly missed the beautiful
old Cathedral built almost as
far back as the 13th Century
Abbeville is the H.Qs of quite a
large number of British units
or rather the base and there is
to be found [three] of the Australian
General Hospitals and incidentally
 

75

many Australian Nurses We had
a good look round the City indulging

in strawberries and cheese to the
extent of two boxes each. The Mayor
was giving us a driver to get this
decoration otherwise we would have
remained in for dinner. It was a
good success topped off with some
"Moet et Chandon 1906". I was glad
to get to bed as we had had a tremendous 
day.
26/6/8 We were busy  today Selecting
teams and drivers and otherwise
arranging for the sports next
weeks Its a difficult matter
when we have had to just take
what we could get in the way of
horses but were able to select 3
from good even teams and should
be well in the running. We had
to look for a grazing area for our
horses So Scott and I rode to
Liercourt to interview the area
Commandant Coming home via
Pont Reing.   We have had two
 

76

brick fences erected for training
the sports and I gave my [[unlike]]
skill a run over them. He was quite 
a success. We are living on the fat
of the land and one welcomes  it
after our sojourn in the line and
living with Civilized Conditions
reminds one of home. We are 
living in trembling and fear that
orders will come thro'  to pack
up and go into action on top of
a forced march somewhere. Good
accounts are forthcoming from the
Italian Front and we anticipate
a violent counter move on the front 
of the Germans and some part of the
line and all available troops
may be required to meet the [[onrush]]
we may go for another ride into
abbeville tomorrow in search
of advance stores and various
Articles of Clothing but will have
to push on with preparations for
the "show". Needless to say we are
having great weather
 

77

27/6/18. We had the Teams out today
in all their glory and are fairly
Convinced that ours will be
well in the evening. It's a difficult

matter to sort out the good harness
as well as the most suitable horses
and some heart burning is sure to
result in spite of the Committee's
efforts. It's indeed a wonderful
relaxation the feeling that theres
no OP to do in the morning and  
one's wakes up feeling quite refreshed
at the thought of it. Without a doubt
the valley of the Somme is beautiful
and wonderfully fertile and all
manner of crops and potatoes
particularly are growing to profusion
still everything is very dear
eggs 4d  each strawberries 5 frs. for
a very Small basket and geese
and fowls anything up to 10 Frs.
The French people themselves eat
very little meat you mostly see
them munching a piece of bread
and butter for breakfast or lunch
 

78 

they are not over particular at sitting
down for meals. But they never the less

wonderfully kind and always ready
to give a helping hand with perhaps
a precocious fruit or sweets which
cooks as a staple fluid as much as 
possible. I was seated in the mess
tonight first thinking of turning
in for the night when orders came
thro to be ready to move off the
following evening. Just what I had
been silently dreading for the last
week I wonder what the move is
rumour hath it we go into the
line near Ypres while others say
it's a case of return to the old

front. Whatever and whenever
it is there's not much doubt we
are unfortunate and after giving
up all our good positions why
didnt we remain there.
28/6/13 Needless to say we cut out
all preparations for the sports and
proceeded to get the guns ready for
the march which we know was