WW1 Diary
4th April 1916 Tuesday
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.
Douglas had been back with his friends at Mesplaux with 130th (St.John) Field Ambulance for a few days and then on the fourth he was on the move again, although the Ambulance diary failed to record the event. Douglas received news from home, where life was proving a little exciting for his family.
“I remained at Mesplaux doing routine work – attending to sick in hospital and orderly officer duties – until April 4th when I was sent up to our Advance Dressing Station at Marais where Capt. Ffoulkes was in charge. An officer and twenty-five men of the 132nd Field Ambulance were up there too for instruction. The A.D.S was in quite a substantial house absolutely untouched by shell-fire. We had two well sandbagged steel shelters behind the house in case of accidents!
Here is a letter from Freda (my sister) dated 3rd April*.
‘ What a night we’ve had. About 10 o’clock the electric light went down all over the town. This is the warning for a Zeppelin raid. It was an absolutely clear night just like summer. We retired to our beds at the usual hour and I put my coat ready in case of accidents. The cable cars had all stopped and policemen were stopping all vehicles in the streets and making them put out their lights. At midnight I woke to find Dorothy hanging out of the window. She said there was a Zeppelin sailing around. I could hear the engines of the thing quite clearly. It was to the north of the city and the sky in the east was lit up by a huge fire somewhere. The Zepp came round to the south until it was behind St. Georges (UF) Church. Suddenly we saw a blue light rushing to earth and then a dreadful bang. Then a quick fire was set on it from the Castle. It was absolutely topping to hear it still in the air. The Zepp then went west until we could hear it no longer and then it turned and came back straight across the city in about a line with Murrayfield and with the Castle. We saw the light of another bomb descending and then the awful explosion. By this time we thought it was high time to retire to the basement. So away we all trooped – dog and all. Dorothy, Randolph and I stood at the front door and watched some more bombs dropping. At last all was quiet – the Zepp had left for home. Dorothy, Randolph and I dressed and went away down Leith St to try and get a view of the fire. Some people said the docks were on fire. It was some blaze. The police wouldn’t allow us any further than Abbeyhill, but we could see the flames and the smoke. The streets were crowded. Randolph went up to school today but has just returned … as the place is in a dreadful mess (George Watson’s College) a bomb landed in the playground and burst all the windows etc. The windows in Castle Terrace and Lothian Street are all smashed and one bomb fell on the Castle Rock. The houses in Marshall Street are smashed and there is a great hole in Nicholson Street. I was quite amazed at myself for being so calm. I hope you will get leave soon, but I hope there will be no raid when you arrive.’”
Here is a report of the events of Sunday 2nd April 1916.
http://www.scotlandmag.com/magazine/issue45/12009312.html
and another
http://www.edinburghs-war.ed.ac.uk/Midlothian/Home-Front/Zeppelin-raid-over-Edinburgh
The letter from Freda unwittingly perhaps, bore testament to an unfortunate and tragic, but nevertheless historic event. The first ever air raid on Scotland. The events that she describes in her letter are born out to be accurate representations of the event as told by newspaper reports the following day.
The police report tells us the extent of the damage to buildings and streets and of the injury and loss of life including some children and babies. The Zeppelins became widely known as the “baby killers”, but although they did indeed cause plenty of structural damage, the damage to morale was probably just as destructive.
The Zeppelin Company weren’t the only manufacturer of airships, some being made by the Luftschiffbau Schütte-Lanz company and others but the name Zeppelin soon became the generic term.
On the night of the 2nd April four Zeppelins, the L13, L14, L16 and L22 set off from their base at Nordholz in Germany. It seems that the directional capabilities of Zeppelins at the time was erratic in the least. On one occasion a raid that set off to bomb London ended up dropping its deadly payload on Hull. On this occasion L16 seems to have initially got lost and found its way eventually into Northumberland. The L13 developed technical problems and returned to base. The L22 eventually made it to Edinburgh but caused little damage after disgorging her bombs in a field somewhere near Berwick-on-Tweed.
The L14 however did make it to Edinburgh under the command of Kapitanleutnant Aloys Bocker with the intention of damaging not only Edinburgh but the Forth railway bridge and the British Naval base at Rosyth. It was this ship that the Page family witnessed on its murderous task. They were lucky in their pursuit of the airship not to be killed or injured as others had been on the night.
The police report states that following a phone call at 7pm from an intelligence source, the City was put on a high state of alert. All leave was cancelled and all available officers were called out on duty.
A total of 24 bombs were dropped on Edinburgh, 18 high explosives and 6 incendiaries. It is possible that Freda and her siblings saw the incendiaries fall as they would have left a trail of blue smoke. In reality the incendiaries of the day were not all that successful, consisting mainly of Kerosene and tarred rope. Before Edinburgh was targeted nearby Leith and its docks were attacked by 9 high explosives and 11 incendiaries which may have been responsible for the large fire that destroyed a whisky bonded warehouse at Leith Docks. There were a further two deaths in Leith with the loss of a man and a child. The uninsured loss of the warehouse, was eventually compensated by the Government to the tune of almost £44,000 an enormous figure in those days.
George Watson’s College was indeed hit by a high explosive bomb, but thankfully causing less damage than it might have. Another high explosive fell about 150 yards away in Lauriston Place.
In total it seems that ten people died including a child and twenty three were injured.
A piece of the bomb casing was used to make a plaque to mark the event near some damaged masonry in the old boys’ school which was in those days situated in Archibald Place not far from the Castle and today the site of the modern Edinburgh Dental Institute.
Zeppelin L14 that carried out that raid on Edinburgh 2nd / 3rd April 1916
Pictures reproduced with the kind permission of George Watson’s College Edinburgh. Thanks to the help of The Head Archivist Fiona Hooper.
*We should point out here how amazing the postal service was back then. Sister Freda must have posted the letter on Monday 3rd April and Douglas received it on the 4th. More details about the Army Postal Service can be found on the excellent Postal Heritage website.
The next post follows tomorrow 5th April
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31st March 1916 Friday
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.
“Then the Army Commander, Sir Charles Munroe [sic] inspected us one day. All was bustle – elbow grease and spit and polish – but everything went off all right.
Sir Charles Monro
I got back to the 130th Field Ambulance on the 31st March (1916) and was very glad to be back with them all again. A Dr. Griffiths relieved me. He used to be with the 14th Welsh in England. I got back to my old billet at Mesplaux. The old lady was greatly pleased to see me again as she thought I’d been killed.”
Sir Charles Monro at the time of the inspection, was during 1916 briefly in command of The British First Army in France. Later that year he was appointed as Commander-in-Chief India. He had achieved high office after a series of promotions through the ranks since receiving his commission into the army as a second lieutenant in 1879. Exactly the same as Douglas the previous year. The difference being that Sir Charles Monro pursued a career as a soldier and Douglas as medical doctor.
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24th March 1916 Friday
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As March wore on the weather maintained the relentless cold. If it wasn’t bad enough to suffer the onslaught of artillery and machine gun fire, to endure it in the freezing and damp conditions in the trenches must have seemed like hell on earth.
“On March 24th we were relieved in the early afternoon. It was cold and snowed all day. We trecked back to Les Choques via Gorre – a ten mile march and very wearisome for our trench weary men. We didn’t arrive at our destination until 6pm. I found my billet and medical inspection room in a filthy condition. I slept in a small room off the latter.”
Life at home in Edinburgh was not so straightforward at this time and they suffered plenty of inconvenience as the war began to impinge on domestic life.
Douglas continued with a quote from a letter without saying whom it was from. It was probably from his mother or sister, but gives an insight to the war at home.
“A letter arrived from home about this time.
‘ We are plunged in gross darkness at night – all lights required to be shaded- neglect of this means a penalty of £100, so as I can’t afford to pay this sum I am keeping my windows carefully shaded’.”
A Blackout order in Norwich 1915. http://norfolkinworldwar1.org
The shadow of fear cast over the threat of being fined £100 for showing some light seems to be at the forefront of the letter writer. It would have been an enormous sum to have to be fined for transgressing the blackout. Typically there are records of people being fined as little as 2/6d or as much as £2 or a little more. There were protests from people who felt they were treated unfairly by an overzealous warden or policeman. Not for two hundred and fifty years had civilians been exposed to war on the home front and not since the Normans arrived had they been attacked by a foreign enemy at home.
Continuing, he immediately returns to matters at the Western Front.
“Whilst out of the line I gave lectures to the stretcher-bearers on first aid &c., medically inspected the battalion and attended to the sick and sanitary arrangements. I also had walks to Mesplaux and spent many happy hours with the 130th Field Ambulance there. Also to Bethune about two miles off, where I did shopping and visited the pictures and dined at the Lion d’Or. It was all such a pleasant relief to trench life.”
The next post follows on 31st March.
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18th March 1916 Saturday
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Douglas tells more of the now very active time taking place in a very hostile period of action including tragic death by friendly fire.
“ The Loos area was very active about this time (March 18th). Great artillery duels took place and one night a mine was exploded which shook us all up and put out all the lights in our dug-out.
One day Smith our Brigade bombing officer with three men were killed in a *sap. One of our shells dropped short amongst them and blew them all to pieces. We were all very much distressed. The funeral of Lt. Smith was most impressive. He was buried in the little cemetery close to my aid post and during the short service one of our aeroplanes flew overhead. The Huns ‘straffed” it heavily with ‘archies’ and bits of shell fell all around us, but fortunately none of us was injured.
The trenches hereabouts were mostly in good condition. The communications trenches, Hitchin Road and Caledonian Road were in excellent order and one felt very safe going up them. ‘Hilders Redoubt’ and ‘Wolfe’s Trench’ were the names of the trenches in this region.”
* a sap is a trench dug in an attempt to undermine the enemy’s stronghold and were the domain of the Corps of Royal Engineers whose men are known as Sappers (Spr.). They are the equivalent of the rank of Private in other units. The term is derived from the French military from which comes the old French word for a spade “sappe”.
The points Douglas mentions can clearly be seen on this trench map. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland. https://maps.nls.uk/index.html
The next post follows on 24th March.
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16th March 1916 Thursday
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March was proving a very active month for young Douglas with the 14th Welsh in terms of front line action against the enemy. However a little relief was to come on the 16th.
“On March 16th we came out of the front line and into the village, a support line, being relieved by the 15th Welsh. My aid post was now nearer the front line and in a battered house on Windy Corner- not a nice spot at all.
We had a lot of enemy shell-fire to endure, as the Huns were searching for one of our batteries which was concealed in some bushes not far behind us at Windy Corner. I took the opportunity of the rest period in getting the men’s feet bathed daily in the *canal. We were spotted on the job once and shelled by our opposite numbers. One man was wounded in the head and we all got a fright. One man had a swim in the canal and found the water very cold. He used some choice language in describing how cold it was. We used to have these parades near Vauxhall Bridge.”
Givenchy Village as it was in the war.
When I got to the front in 1916 only a heap of bricks and rubble marked where the pretty little village once stood.
* It is of interest that Douglas would choose to bathe the men’s feet in the canal. I am not an expert on the condition of the water in French canals but here in the UK it is not very advisable to bathe in canal water for health reasons, although I have done personally both voluntarily and involuntarily. I can’t imagine the water content being much different in France. http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/oct/26/weils-disease-andy-holmes
** Not the one over the Thames. We are trying to find it on a trench map. Any help appreciated.
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8th-15th March 1916
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We mentioned about the Guards Cemetery at Windy Corner when another interesting fact popped its peculiar head above the parapet. The designer of the Guards Cemetery was in fact none other than one of the most successful architects of the 20th Century, Charles Holden. Charles who? I hear you say. Well those of you familiar with London’s Underground network will be very familiar with some of his work. Many of London’s Underground stations built during the 1930s were also the work of Holden, something of a genius in his day with a lasting legacy. The Grade 1 listed headquarters of The London Underground at St. James’ Park Station is an outstanding example, along with stations at South Wimbledon, Arnos Grove and Southgate for example.
You can read more about him and his works here.
London’s Senate House by Charles Holden Pic by stevecadman – http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevecadman/56350347/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6400009
Douglas wrote;
“ One fine day Major Sherren (the D.A.M.D.S) and Capt. Williams (Sanitary Officer), came up to inspect the trenches. All went well till we got to Givenchy Keep when the Huns started a ‘straff ’. We got it hot for 20 minutes and just lay low in the trench where we were. Some of the shells dropped very close to us. We saw the remains of Givenchy Church a heap of bricks and stones.”
Trench map. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland. https://maps.nls.uk/index.html
Modern day map
A pic from the Liverpool Records Office shows Windy Corner
Windy Corner seems to be a British name given to the point that much of everything was routed through in the area. Look at the trench map showing the British Army names for the area, like Herts Avenue, Wood Lane and such. These days the layout of the roads has altered. Some lanes that were unmade in 1916 are now modern roads and a modern church stands where the “heap of brick and stones” once lay.
The next post follows on 16th March.
Find out about our connection with Dr Page and an introduction to his diary here
7th March 1916 Tuesday
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.
Douglas had been with the 14th Welsh for a week. One night the 14th Welsh Concert Party had given a very good concert in a factory that was thoroughly enjoyed by the men, including General Ivor Phillips.
On this Tuesday the unit left Locon.
“I proceeded with the Battalion to Gorre, via Zeelobes*, Vielle Chapelle, Lacature and Le Touret. Battalion Headquarters was in a huge chateau, looted by the German Crown Prince at the beginning of the war. After a day or two there, we had four days in the trenches at Givenchy and a hot time we had there too with numerous casualties. To get to the front line we went along the north bank of the la Bassee canal and passed ‘Lone Farm’, a bleak spot that housed the 129th Field Ambulance Dressing Station.
My Aid Post in the battered remains of Givenchy was in a well sandbagged room of a dilapidated house and my own funk hole and sleeping abode was in a tiny underground dug-out behind the house, quite a cozy wee place and safe. The Battalion Headquarters was up the road and Windy Corner another 100 yards nearer the line.
There was a small cemetery close to my aid post and I saw many of our men buried there during our short stay.”
“Givenchy Village as it was in the war. When I got to the front in 1916 only a heap of bricks and rubble marked where the pretty little village once stood.”
I believe the small cemetery was in fact probably what is now called the Guards Cemetery at Windy Corner.
* Looking on a modern map Zeelobes is Rue des Lobes.
Find out about our connection with Dr Page and an introduction to his diary here
2nd March 1916 Thursday
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.
Today there is no entry in Douglas’s diary.
Although the men from his regular unit the 130th (St. John) Field Ambulance were kept busy at Mesplaux in the cold weather building a new standing for horses and by the end of the week they had built a new joiner’s shop, life in the trenches for Douglas’s temporary company the 14th Welsh, was busy in a more terrifying way with plenty of action against the enemy.
I’m sure there were plenty of distractions to take our man’s mind off less important things than a machine gun bullet pinging over his head, whilst trying to stem the flow of blood from an unfortunate victim. Today however I’m sure his family back home in Scotland would have had him more in mind than usual.
Today was Douglas’s 22nd birthday. No mention of cake, no mention of greetings from home, no time to be thinking of himself when work was to be done.
Dr D C M Page
It is edifying to think that at the age of only 22 this young man had only just completed medical school and then found himself plunged into the awful theatre of war in the trenches of Flanders. To gain not just life changing experience, but more medical experience, more quickly and under the most trying of conditions than anyone could have imagined. All before his life had really begun.
Find out about our connection with Dr Page and an introduction to his diary here
1st March 1916 Wednesday
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The 14th Welsh were relieved by the 9th Cheshires.
Contrary to modern thinking Douglas is about to tell us how on this day in 1916 smoking was about saving lives.
“We had quite a lively time going out, as the Hun machine guns were very active. My guide got a bullet through his pack and smashed up a tin of tobacco in it. This deflected the bullet and saved his life. It took us fully four hours to get back to Locon as the roads were in a terrible state of mud and it was a pitch dark night.
The battalion remained in Locon until March 7th and I got a billet in a cottage, not very comfortable, but better than a dug-out in the trenches.
My days were occupied with sick-parades and training of stretcher-bearers and visits to the ambulance at Mesplaux, &c. Bathing parades were held at the Divisional Baths with laundry attached. I had to be present at these parades to inspect all the men for skin diseases &c. They all got a good hot bath and new underclothing and socks.
Then one night the 14th Welsh Concert Party gave a very good show in the factory at Locon to a crowded house including the divisional General Ivor Philipps. It was an excellent concert greatly enjoyed by all.”
Major General Ivor Philipps MP KCB DSO
Major General Sir Ivor Philipps 1861-1940
At the time of the concert Brigadier General Ivor Philipps was in command of the 38th (Welsh Division). Already having had a distinguished career in the British Indian Army, Philipps had retired from the army in 1903 and had joined the Pembrokeshire Yeomanry as a reservist and as Commander from 1908-12.
At the outbreak of war in 1914 he was initially behind a desk at the War Office, but by November he was promoted to Brigadier General and given command of the 115th brigade attached to the 38th Welsh. In January 1916 he assumed command of the entire 38th (Welsh) Division, bringing them to the Western Front. Returning to London for a short period to take up ministerial duties, he returned to the front to lead the 38th Welsh into battle on the first day of the Somme on July 7th 1916.
Find out about our connection with Dr Page and an introduction to his diary here
29th February 1916 Tuesday
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On this day both Captain Anderson and Captain Ffoulkes were given a couple of weeks’ leave and Douglas received news of a temporary transfer owing to the Medical Officer of the 14th Welsh Regiment being taken ill with flu.
“On 29th February 1916 I was sent to the 14th Welsh Regiment as their doctor was ill with influenza. I remained with the Battalion until March 31st ”. The Battalion was in the trenches and I went by motor ambulance to our advanced dressing station at St. Vaast via Lacature and Richebourg. Then I walked down the road past Windy Corner to my aid post in a shell-battered cottage.”
Find out about our connection with Dr Page and an introduction to his diary here