Saturday 1st.
Rode to Tidworth to draw stores from Ordnance. There was an awfully strong gale blowing with rain & sleet. I was delayed on return trip by one of the horses balking at every hill and had to pull the brute by the jaw most of the way home. I was just in time for dinner at 7.50.
Sunday 2nd.
We had Church parade this morning but no parson turned up at church so we came home after waiting half an hour. In the evening I had tea with Mrs. Haking.
Monday 3rd.
Orderly officer today all drivers under arrest and consequently very busy. Rose at 6.20. At orderly room Maj Brown gave all Lieuts a lecture re duties & I told him he did not give us a fair show as he undermined our authority by reprimanding us continually before the men. I collected most of the mess accounts. This is the first fine day we have had at Larkhill.
Tuesday 4th.
I rode to Tidworth today for more stores and got very wet it was 6.30 when I got back to camp.
Wednesday 5th.
Working in camp all day getting horses shod & wagons repaired.
Thursday 6th.
Repacking tool carts and cleaning tools all day. I rode to Stonehenge this evening and was much interested in the big stones which were about 18 ft long & stand on end with others across the top.
Friday 7th.
I rode to Salisbury with all the horses & the drivers, bought a gramophone for the Section & got back at 6 p.m.
Enjoyed the day.
Letter from Irene at night.
The Signal Co left today for the Front.
Saturday 8th.
Letter from Maud today.
We changed huts & cleaned up the Signal Co’s huts which were awful. I had a row with Major B, & told him he had better let me get out if he couldn’t treat me reasonably. He told me he meant nothing personal & said I’d better carry on.
Sunday 9th.
I took the Company to church this morning and as there was no parson I read the service. We moved to new stables today and had to thoroughly clean the old ones.
White & I went for a ride this afternoon.
Monday 10th.
On orderly duties & repairing incinerator. Tiresome day with Major on his car.
Tuesday 11th.
Rode to Tidworth for stores & got in the last of them bar searchlights & rods which the O.O. promised to send by M.T.
Wednesday 12th.
March out arranged with full equipment. We paraded & stood waiting for nearly two hours while the Major wandered about dissing everybody.
Thursday 13th.
Packing & cleaning huts & cook houses ready for early start tomorrow. Fine day.
Friday 14th.
Sailed from Southampton at 5 p.m. having left Larkhill at 6 a.m. by train. Had lunch at the Dolphin and then embarked for France at last.
Saturday 15th.
Arrived in Havre early this morning, disembarked about 9 a.m. entrained.
Sunday 16th.
Arrived at Sailly at 4.30 a.m. did not get to bed till 8.30 & got up at 9. Straightening things up all day.
Monday 17th.
Orderly officer. Busy looking after the men and billets.
Tuesday 18th.
Received orders to go to Bettencourt to fix up some work at the Divisional baths. Took Maddigan over to work there as carpenter & left him, returning via Quesnoy. Found there was a lot of work for me at Bettencourt.
Wednesday 19th.
Went to Bettencourt and Airaines & bought timber for Latrines at Baths. Also bought bricks at Quesnoy.
Thursday 20th.
The Company marched out from Sailly at 10 o’clock. Proceeded to Hocquincourt a village near Hallencourt. We reached there at 2.30 p.m. I was billeted with Thorne in the Chateau Beaufort in a nice room. The men were put in Barnes & stables which was rough on them.
Friday 21st.
Went to Bettencourt to work on Baths & to Airaines for timber. Called at C.R.E.’s office to see if transport was arranged. Found it was not so I had to rustle it myself in Airaines from the Ammunition column.
Saturday 22nd.
Working at Baths Bettencourt had to go to Airaines for timber & had trouble getting motor transport. Started work on Laundry shed & incinerator. Lunch at Airaines. Had a lot of running about & was very tired at night. Rode back to Hocquincourt at night.
Sunday 23rd.
Working at Bettencourt at Baths finished incinerator & boilers and most of the laundry shed. Rode back to Hocquincourt at night very tired.
Monday 24th.
The Company left Hocquincourt at 11 a.m. The Sappers & Officers travelling by motor busses and the mounted section bringing on the tool & forage carts. We travelled through Airaines & Amiens reaching Albert at 4 p.m. & billeted there. Albert has been badly shot up. A statue of the Virgin on the church tower is hanging head down at an angle of 40 degrees with the tower.
Tuesday 25th.
Went out to the first line trenches this morning & saw a lot of firing chiefly at German Air planes, the shooting was very bad most of the shells bursting away behind the planes. I was given a lot of wire entanglements to erect & some trenches to fix up so this afternoon I took my section N.C.O.’s up and laid out the work.
Wrote to Irene.
Wednesday 26th.
At 9 a.m. went with my section to the trenches. The Germans saw us cross the ridge & commenced shelling us. They dropped about 10 shells within 100 yds of us, one about 25 feet away. Weir was hit by a small fragment but it did not penetrate his coat. One of our airplanes was hit by the Germans and came down in a hurry inside our lines with its engine smashed. The shelling was kept up so we have to wait for night to work. Went to the trenches at 4.30 p.m. & commenced wiring. Stayed to 12 midnight, only one shell came near us but there was a furious cannonade from both sides and the star shells were being sent up all along the line at frequent intervals.
Thursday 27th.
The machine guns rattled away viciously now & then and the phut of the snipers rifles was pretty constant. Today Thursday I spent getting revetting material for a new trench we are digging right out in front and at 4.30 p.m. took out the section to continue wiring. We worked till midnight without any interruption in the way of shell fire. At 6.15 the big guns along our line fired all at once & it was grand to see the long flash of fire and hear the roar of the explosion & the whizz of the shells. They went so far that we only faintly heard the shell burst. The Germans replied quickly & kept it up some time and all night the flares on both sides kept lighting up the scene.
Friday 28th.
Friday. All our officers went out to Keats Redan this morning to look over the ground we have to prepare. We had to travel in trenches for two hours but could not get where we wanted as the ground was covered by the German machine guns. At 4.30 I took my section wiring again and we had a quiet night getting back at 12.30.
The men get their hands badly cut by the wire while working in the dark and it is slow work and very tiresome.
Saturday 29th.
Wrote to Irene. Letters from Maud & Gerald.
A foggy morning so I took my section out on the wiring till 12.30. The fog cleared just as we left & the Germans began shooting at once but did not get close to us. This afternoon at 6.00 we have to make a reconnaissance.
Sunday 30th.
Church H.C at 8 a.m. Heavy bombardment by Germans this morning several horses and one man wounded.
Monday 31st.
Went out to Front line this morning then back to get material ready for night work, rested this afternoon. At 5 p.m. the Germans shelled our front line for 1 hr 35 min sending over about 3000 shells and blowing our wire & trenches to pieces. The Col of the Essex was killed then a German bomb party came over to our trenches & took a Sergt, Corpl & 11 men prisoners & left their scaling ladders & a note advising the men to quit fighting.
The Bay Museum & Research Facility 