WW1 Diary

22nd May 1916 Monday

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As May passed, Douglas had a rather peaceful time of it although he was kept busy with less terrifying events than he had seen in the recent past.

“I had a trip to Hazebrouck 12 miles distant, one day in an ambulance with a French girl who had a tubercular wrist. We went via Merville and it was a delightful run on a fine, sunny day. It was very pretty in the Foret de Nieppe. Hazebrouck was a fine clean town, with a fine large square and town hall. The civil hospital was in a monastery and the ward I took the little patient to was full of French people. I met the French doctor and countess who were both very gracious. I had a walk around the town and made a few purchases. There were a lot of New Zealanders, Australians and Indian Cavalry about.”

Combat de coq

“One Sunday afternoon Capt. Anderson and I walked into Estaires to see a cock-fight. It was held in the back yard of the Hotel de Ville and admission was 3 francs. There was a big crowd present, consisting of French civilians and British officers, including many staff officers. The cocks fought in a railed and raised platform in the centre of the yard. We saw five fights. Each cock had a long steel spur fixed on to its legs. It was a cruel sport and didn’t raise any enthusiasm except amongst the Frenchmen who laid bets freely.”

imageedit_6_9908842209.jpg.opt757x499o0,0s757x499

Cock fighting has been popular all over the world particularly in Central Asia since at least 524 BC but gradually the appetite for blood sports has slowly decreased. Now banned in many countries it is also a crime these days in France, with some exceptions. In some regions where it is held to be an important tradition cock fighting is still permitted.  Nord Pay de Calais region, where Douglas and Capt. Anderson witnessed the event is today one of the last areas that can hold the sport legally. In the present day there are 12 “gallodromes” that host regular contests where locals and enthusiasts from across the nearby border with Belgium, where it is outlawed, attend the contests. Specially bred cocks known as “Comabattant de Nord” are reared in the area for the purpose.

Cockfighting was banned in England in 1835, but survived another 60 years in Scotland until 1895 when Douglas was one year old.

“On May 22nd I gave a demonstration with six men of the new Rogers trench stretcher before General Pike, a high (ranking) French officer and other staff officers. General Pike was greatly pleased and thanked us profusely. The Frenchie was also highly delighted and took one of the new stretchers away with him!”

Stretcher bearer Trench stretcher

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4th May 1916 Thursday

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Douglas was pleased to be allowed a little relief as his unit was relieved from the front line and they moved back to relative safety.

“I found La Gorgue to be quite a pleasant little town with good houses and clean streets. It was untouched by shell fire and crowded with civilians. It was fine to be billeted in such a spot after dug-outs and unfurnished ruined houses for so long. My billet was in a lovely, well furnished and airy room above a boot shop, the best billet I’ve had in France. Our hospital was in a large building and we had accommodation for over a hundred patients.

I saw my first Zeppelin on May 4th when one passed over us at night and dropped a bomb close to us. It didn’t do any harm.”

Laventie Trench Map (courtesy of http://130thstjohnfieldambulance.co.uk )

Laventie Trench Map (courtesy of http://130thstjohnfieldambulance.co.uk )

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30th April 1916 Sunday

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“Our main Dressing Station was now at La Gorgue. I was on duty at Laventie Dressing Station until April 30th and had quite a busy time whilst there. We had a number of wounded to attend to always and lots of odd detachments of troops (divisional and army) whose health we had to look to also. Ours was a most hospitable mess too and not a day passed but that we had numerous callers of all ranks.

Our other ADS was situated at La Flinque, where Captain Ffoulkes was in charge. It took a good half hour’s walking to reach it across country from our station at Laventie.”

“About 11 o’clock one night we got our orders to ‘stand to’ with gas helmets ready. Great excitement! We got all the men out into the back yard and all the horses harnessed into the limbers ready to move off at any moment.”

“There was a great artillery duel going on. The noise was fiendish. Dispatch riders tore up and down the road on motorbikes and on horseback. Ammunition wagons and Battalion transport limbers clattered past at the gallop. It was all very thrilling, but nothing more happened and we all got to bed about midnight.”

“From 4am the next morning we were kept very busy for a full eight hours attending to wounded as a result of the midnight ‘straffe’.”

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Rouge Croix revisited

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January 7th was the day we posted the incredible story of Winston Churchill’s fortunate escape as he was sent on a wild goose chase to Rouge Croix for a cancelled meeting that inadvertently saved his life. Here are a couple of views of the area as it is today, but I found the experience of actually standing in the place that unknowingly changed world history quite poignant.

Rouge Croix March 2016 with its famous “red cross”.

Rouge Croix March 2016 with its famous “red cross”.

The view from Ebenezer farm across the fields to Rouge Croix.

The view from Ebenezer Farm across the fields to Rouge Croix

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Calonne revisited

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The church at Calonne-sur-la-Lys was the scene of Douglas’s account of the Christmas Day service described in the post for December 25th 1915. The original church stood on the site of today’s graveyard, being replaced by a new church in 1892. It was in that church that Lt. Douglas Page described the moaning of the choristers accompanied by the jingling of bells and the old man in the cocked hat admonishing bored children.

That building was totally destroyed by the Germans on the 9th April 1918 during the battle-of-the-Lys, in which Germany gained a good bit of ground during the Spring Offensive of that year. The current Church was built in 1925 but during WW2 its bell tower was destroyed by the Germans as it interfered with fighters taking off from the nearby aerodrome. It was finally restored in the 1960s.

On our visit the church was locked and was showing a lot of signs of neglect. It was a shame to see broken windows adorn the apse and empty drink bottles and cans near the graveyard.

Calonne church

Calonne Church 1915

Calonne church 2016

Calonne Church 2016

Calonne sign

 

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17th April 1916 Monday

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Some movement was taking place now in the 130th (St. John) Field Ambulance. Following the move to Laventie by Douglas and his men, Captain Meredydd Ffoulkes and another officer took a detachment of 36 men to set up another Advanced Dressing Station up in La Flinque.

“….. We were still busy getting our new abode cleaned up and put in order. I paid a visit to our Battalion Aid posts from which we collect our wounded and sick. They were situated at Red House (Red House M6d3.1) and Hougoumont (Hougamont M12C3.6.)* and very fine posts too, but over a mile from the front line and forty minutes walk from our Dressing Station.”

17 April screenshot1

17 April screenshot2

Men being treated at an Aid Post

* We have unable to find the locations of either Red House or Hougoumont (Hougamont M12C3.6) – the different spellings being from both Dr Page’s diary and the regimental diary. Does anyone have a trench map for the Laventie area? Any help appreciated.

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16th April 1916 Sunday

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Douglas senses that something must be going on. Troops are beginning to move positions, but he has no idea why.

“On Sunday April 16th Lt. Buckly and I with 36 men left Mesplaux to set up an Advanced Dressing Station at Laventie. We marched via Locon,  Rue des Lobes, Lestrem, La Gorgue, Riez Bailleul and Pont Du Hem. It was a terribly long tramp and we took the wrong turning at La Gorgue where we saw the Edinburgh Bantam Battalion*. I tried to locate Gordon Sturrock**, but he was away on a signalling course. I saw a lot of aeroplanes at the aerodrome outside Merville. We left Mesplaux at 8a.m. and got to Laventie at 1p.m.

Laventie we found to be quite a decent sized place, but most of the buildings showed signs of shell-fire. There were a large number of troops about. Our A.D.S. was near the station on the north side of the town and was in quite a respectable chateau of three flats and with good cellars or funk holes. The Crown Prince of Germany stayed in the chateau when the Huns occupied Laventie. One of the cellars was full of empty wine bottles when we arrived!

We had our mess, patients’ ward and dressing rooms on the ground floor. On the second floor were our bedrooms and the sergeants’ and orderlies’ rooms, above that a large loft which accommodated all our men. At the back were the cookhouse &c. We took over from the 105th Field Ambulance – (35th Division) who left it in a filthy condition. We had a busy afternoon and evening, putting things ship-shape.

Are we going to attack? Is the Hun going to attack us? Why all this movement of troops? Why has everybody been recalled from leave? These are the questions of the hour. This part of the line is full of troops, guns and barbed wire. The Australians are on our left and a fine body of men.”

* Douglas mentioned seeing the Bantam Battalion at La Gorgue. Such was the fervour for young men to enlist at the outbreak of hostilities in 1914 that recruiting offices were often unable to cope with the volume of men trying to sign up. One way to control the flow was to increase the minimum height requirement of 5ft 3ins (160cms) to 5ft 6 ins (167.67 cms) for new recruits.

The Bantams were formed when a growing number of men were refused entry because of their height, despite the fact that they were otherwise fit for service.

By the middle of 1915 the recruitment had slowed to a point that the minimum height requirement had been reduced a couple of times until it reached 5ft 2ins (157.5 cms). So men began to be assimilated into the main regiments and by the end of 1916 the Bantams were being sometimes being replaced with taller men anyway, so they became indistinguishable from normal regiments. By the way, Bantam officers were not subject to any height regulations.

Bantams_recruiting_poster_WWI

**Gordon Sturrock was a family friend and although he didn’t know it at the time Douglas would eventually marry Gordon’s young sister Elizabeth Mary. More on Gordon Sturrock in a later post.

The next diary post follows on 17th April.

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9th April 1916 to 14th April 1916 Sunday to Friday

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“… We were relieved by the 10th Welsh and went into support on the Rue D’Epinette. My medical inspection room was in a tumble-down cottage. Rather a filthy place.”

Maps showing Rue D’Epinette

map pic for 9 April

Maps showing Rue D’Epinette

April 13th 1916 Thursday

Douglas and the 13th Welsh returned to the frontline.

April 14th 1916 Friday.

Lt. Watkins having recovered from his bout of bronchitis reported back for duty and relieved Douglas. Douglas then made his way back to Mesplaux to be reunited with his regular unit the 130th.

The next diary post follows on 19th April.

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8th April 1916 Saturday

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The week before Easter this year my wife Liz, Douglas’s granddaughter and I paid a visit to the battlefield areas that Douglas had been in up until April 1916. Some interesting things emerged including us staying at Field Marshall Haig’s Bomb School. We visited the old farm at Mesplaux that saw so much activity during the war. We also visited Reiz Ballieul and were welcomed by the current occupiers. More on that will follow on a post later this month.

Douglas continues;

“I was up at the A.D.S. until 8th April and had a very pleasant stay. We always  had a lot of visitors dropping in for a meal so we were never dull and got all the news of the day. Our work was light with only a very few wounded and sick passing through our hands.

One day I went back to Headquarters at Mesplaux to attend a clinical meeting.

Mesplaux cart Mesplaux new Mesplaux old Mesplaux car

Mesplaux Liz

Douglas’s granddaughter Liz Coggin at Mesplaux Farm 20th March 2016.

It was very well attended by the Divisional Medical Officers. Capt. Day read a paper on the treatment of wounds by a Regimental M.O. It was quite sound, but I didn’t learn anything from it. Lt. Anderson also read a paper on wound treatment in Field Ambulances, which was very interesting. A discussion followed which was very tame.

I was transferred to the 13th Welsh on the 8th in place of Lt. Watkins, R.A.M.C. who had bronchitis. The Battalion was in the ‘Old British Line’ and I had an Aid-Post in a well sand-bagged dug-out.”

The next post follows tomorrow, 9th April.

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5th to 7th April 1916 – Wednesday to Friday

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Douglas stayed at the Advanced Dressing Station for a few days and enjoyed the time there. The work was light with only a few wounded and sick to care for. They had plenty of visitors with people dropping in for meal or two and a gossip about the latest news etc. I dare say Douglas would have entertained his guests with the news of the Zeppelin attack on his hometown.

During the time at the A.D.S. he attended lectures and had meetings back at Mesplaux H.Q. He described a huge fire behind the German lines one night without knowing what it was.

“I paid visits to the front line Aid-Posts. On the way up I had to pass through Festubert which was terribly smashed up, especially the *church.

On a clear day we could obtain a fine view of the country inside the German lines including Violaines, the La Bassee Bridge and brewery. When our artillery was busy it was fine to watch the shells bursting on the Hun emplacements. There were some old German trenches just in front of our frontline which were full of dead Huns. In our own frontline there were many graves of “unknown” soldiers.”

map for 5 April post

*Churches would be attacked because the bell towers made very useful observation posts as well as good sniper or machine gun emplacements. So many churches were destroyed.

The next post follows on 8th April.

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