21st December 1917 Friday

A Duck Walk for Douglas

All material produced or reproduced here and throughout this work is the sole copyright of the author and the family of Doctor D.C.M. Page MC

“I went round the trenches and posts next day. There was hard frost, and it was tricky work walking along the wooden duck-boards. ‘C’ Company was at Elbow Farm, and by going up Tin Barn Avenue one got to ‘A’ and ‘B’ Companies. ‘D’ Company were in some rotten old houses along a road from Elbow Farm. There were a lot of guns situated between Elbow Farm and Fleurbaix which the Huns delighted in shelling.”

With Christmas looming, the miserably cold weather and snow on the ground, bombardments continued. Conditions around the trenches were pretty difficult.

Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland. https://maps.nls.uk/index.html

Men of the 15th Battalion Royal Welch Fusiliers (London Welsh) filling sandbags with the earth excavated from a dug-out in their trenches at Fleurbaix, 28 December 1917. Copyright: © IWM (Q 8372) http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205244250

Find out about our connection with Dr Page and an introduction to his diary here