Monthly Archives: March 2018
9th March 1918 Saturday
Busy exchanges along an extensive line.
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
“Next day the 12th Division, after a great artillery straffe raided the German lines, taking 12 prisoners, and a machine gun. Things livened up after this, and heavy shelling went on day and night with no sleep for most of us.
I was called out to attend to wounded nearly every night, as the enemy shelled very heavily the road from Windy Corner to Artillery Farm.”
“Windy Corner” named for the regularity of enemy bombardments putting the “wind up” those nearby is in the village of Cuinchy close to the Le Basse Canal. Today it’s the site of Windy Corner cemetery referred to first in the diary on December 31st 1915.
Artillery Farm, we identified back in December as Gunner Farm, as it’s marked on British trench maps. Douglas described it as being about 100 yards down the road from Streaky Bacon Farm. Gunner Farm is the only place to fit that description. From Gunner Farm to Windy Corner is a distance of about 21 kms, so he was describing quite a long line of attack.
Find out about our connection with Dr Page and an introduction to his diary here
8th March 1918 Friday
Yet another close call for the lucky 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
“On March 8th, the enemy shelled our D. Battery all day with 8 inch stuff. Pieces of shell flew all over the place, and it wasn’t safe to be out. I sat in my hut for a while, but eventually decided to go across to the farm for better protection. I was glad that I did, for on going to my hut in the evening I found several holes in the roof, and a large piece of shell embedded in the back of my chair!”
Douglas had a number of nearly but not quite escapes during his war, March 8th 1918 was another one of them. It was fortunate indeed that he decided he might be safer over at the farm.
La Rolanderie Farm today. Now at the entrance to Suffolk Cemetery.
Find out about our connection with Dr Page and an introduction to his diary here
4th March 1918 Monday
Douglas deployed to the RFA
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.
“On March 4th, I was sent to act as Medical Officer to the 121 Brigade, Royal Field Artillery, at Rolanderie Farm. I had a good billet in a small hut near the farm. The Commanding Officer, Colonel McLennan, was a very fine man. I had a walk round the Batteries every morning to see any sick men. It was fine, walking through the fields, as the weather was sunny and warm at the time.”
Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland. https://maps.nls.uk/index.html
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If anyone has any information on Colonel McLennan please let us know. We found Colonel McLennan of the RAMC but can’t be sure it’s the same man.
Find out about our connection with Dr Page and an introduction to his diary here
20th February 1918 Wednesday to 2nd March 1918 Saturday
The School of Instruction
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.
“On the 20th Feby I was packed off by car to the 1st. Army R.A.M.C. School of Instruction at Bruay, near Bethune. There were about 40 R.A.M.C. officers, including 10 Americans at the School, and we all slept in a large wooden hut on good hospital beds.
Each morning we were up at 7 o’clock, and had a course of physical jerks before breakfast. It was great fun, and I enjoyed this part of the day’s programme very much.”
From Wednesday 20th February until Saturday the 2nd March Douglas attended the RAMC School of Instruction at Bruay, just south west of Bethune. Unusually for his diary, he goes into a lot of detail about the instruction he received about medical matters. We will go into the events in more detail in any printed version of this diary. Suffice to say for now that the men spent their spare or non-study time doing physical exercise, route marches or on horse riding exercises, sometimes just going for a ride together.
Bethune had been an important behind the lines centre for British and Allied troops since the beginning of the war, but the time for Bethune was running out. It was soon to be almost totally destroyed in the forthcoming Kaiser’s “Spring Offensive”, or “Operation Michael”.
“The 24th Feby. was a Sunday, and we had Church Parade at 11 a.m. In the afternoon eight of us went out on horses for some fresh air, and had a great time.”
“On the morning of Saturday, March 2nd (my birthday) there was a terrific bombardment. We found out later that the Germans had attacked the Portuguese, and broken through, but that the ‘Geese’ or ‘Pork and Beans’ assisted by our 42nd Division had driven the enemy back again.
That same afternoon I returned to L’Estrude after a very pleasant and instructional week at Army H.Q.”
The fate awaiting Bethune after the German Spring Offensive of 1918. Photo via Creative Commons http://www.wikipasdecalais.fr/index.php?title=Fichier:Béthune_beffroi_1918_4.jpg
Find out about our connection with Dr Page and an introduction to his diary here