Walter Draycott’s Great War Chronicle

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Archives for October 2015

Thursday 21 October 1915

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The Battalion has no further orders and still “Stand to Arms”. Lots of rumours going about the Shropshire Light Infantry.
Have gone post Haste to Cappy what for?
The 3rd Kings Royal Rifles have entrained. Where to? We have orders to move – where to? All is bustle, troops are moving both ways.

*King’s Shropshire Light Infantry – A regiment of the British Army that had first formed in 1881 but was expanded greatly to 12 battalions during the First World War. The regiment fought extensively and was awarded 60 battle honours over the course of WWI.

Tuesday 19 October 1915

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Appointed Regimental Barber together with Private Williams.
Weather very cold.
Heavy bombardment in Arras region. Private Wallach pays a visit to Estaminets for coffee. We are not able to do any washing so in consequence are lousy.

*Arras – A city in northern France very close to the front lines for most of the war. There was a series of battles fought over Arras during the war which saw the city change hands. The New Zealand Tunneling company helped use a series of medieval tunnels beneath the city to defend it from the Germans. The city was damaged so severely during the war that three quarters of it had to be rebuilt.

Sunday 17 October 1915

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Awakened at 8 am still feeling tired. Am cutting hair all day. Partook of a bottle of Champagne, good for my cold.
Evening Service (Methodist) by Private Lightbody of Princess Pats. Many attend, sing hymns.
Major Hamilton Gault, Captain MacDonald, Lieutenant Molson, Lieutenant MacKenzie, Lieutenant Curry arrive last night to join us.

Saturday 16 October 1915

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Am busy cutting hair all day.
We get orders to leave this district for Maricourt, 10 miles away.
On the march at 8 pm and after a half of 1 hour to pick up the other companies in a field we resume the march. The Cambridge Regiment take over our Billets at Eclusier. Am feeling weak from effects of a cold. Pass thro’ Cappy and after a tiring march reach Maricourt at midnight. Here we find more Regiments and Headquarter of the 27th Division.
As usual our Billet consists of very old barn and very crowded.

Friday 15 October 1915

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The Huns open the morning with more “Putty Kegs” and two trench sappers are wounded.

A report states Private Moyle has died of his wounds.

Hodgson is buried alongside of Lance Corporal G.B Johnstone.
Our artillery play on German trenches with high explosive and shrapnel, whilst the Company leaves the fire trench for the support trench.

We are relieved by No 1 Company and go to Eclusier where we stay the night.

*Trench Sappers – Military/combat engineers, comes from the phrase saper, French “to dig” or “to trench”

Thursday 14 October 1915

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We leave the lower firing line and move into “Whiz-Bang Corner” at the “Crows Nest”. There are no dug-outs for No. 9 Section, so rest in open whilst the others sleep (till noon) then our section returns for a rest.
At 4:30 pm I report to Medical Officer as I have a bad cold. Get medicine and sleep at stretcher –bearers dug-out.
At 5:30 pm Germans send over a whiz bang, which falls into the trench opposite the dugout where I had been sleeping. It killed Private 10993 GM Hodgson the son of a C of E Parson of Bishops Waltham and shock [sic] Private 51291 Kirby, HE.
As I passed up the trench I came upon the stretcher bearers who were in a tight place with the dead body of Hodgson on the stretcher. I lifted Hodgson into my arms and let them get the stretcher free. Hodgson had half his face blown away. I sleep at the stretcher-bearers dug-out. Feel very weak.
A Taube flies over our lines and we open fire but fail to hit it (5 pm).
Corporal Brown of 2 Company wounded in the arm and leg.

Wednesday 13 October 1915

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We leave the crest of the hill for the next line of trenches. No 16 platoon relieving us. We go to a listening [patrol] again.
A most awful bombardment is taking place on our left. Horrible din. A Hellish roar and din is going on by the Germans sending over “whiz bangs” (trench mortar) shells and rifle grenades, accompanied with the usual rifle fire and night flares.

Tuesday 12 October – fine

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The Huns have a working party out and we give them a rapid fire apparently doing damage. They retaliate. At 7 am the Huns send over 15 or 20 huge trench mortar bombs about size of 4 gallon keg. They cause great havoc with our trenches and dug outs just knocking them to pieces like sand hills.

Our casualties are Lance Corporal McG* 210 Johnstone George Blanchard (of Nelson BC)
Killed (buried under the debris) with brains knocked out and neck broken and leg torn off)
Private McG, 58 Moyle – wounded
Private McG 181 Fergusson [Vs] – wounded in leg, arm, and knee.
George Blanchard Johnstone, Nelson BC.

Lance Corporal McG 62 MacQueen A.R – shock
Private McG 78 Alban W.J – shock
The dull thud from the German trench mortar could be heard and immediately I shouted “take cover”, after a short wait I would hear a hissing noise and on looking up, would see a gigantic “Salmon Can” coming thro’ the air. A few would alight on the wire netting and bounce up again.
The explosion was ear splitting and deafening and the vibration shook the trench as an earthquake. I had orders previous to the bombardment to collect the water bottles and after 4 attempts which nearly cost me my life I did go. Also I collected the Rifles, kits and other articles of value to save them from being buried. The bombardment was over by 10 am. At 3 pm we are ordered out of trench to let our artillery bombard the German trenches. At 5 pm back again. All quiet during night. Except furious bombardment by artillery near Arras.
The Germans ask for a truce to bury their dead which we killed last night. The firing was the result of my report. “German working party out in front”.
A most sanguinous bombardment is taking place on our left.
Started at or about 10 pm and kept up till dusk.

*McG = McGill University Company Reinforcement Draft

*Minenwerfer- The German mortar or “Mine Launcher” was a short range weapon used extensively by Germany during WWI. Early on the Germans realized that mortars were extremely useful for trench warfare as the projectiles could fall straight downward into the enemy’s trenches. They developed three different sizes of mortar and quickly started to mass produce them after their initial successes.

* Sanguineous – Relating to or involving bloodshed

Funders

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