Walter Draycott’s Great War Chronicle
North Vancouver Museum & Archives
Sergt. Baker returns from leave.
35,000 men are stranded at Folkestone on a/c of fog, etc. in Channel.
We shoot up the enemy at Vimy.
*Folkestone was an important port in the First World War with approximately 10 million troops and others, including nurses, passing through the harbour. Some were troops embarking to serve on the Western Front and others were troops returning home because they had leave or were wounded
3 men of the Intell. Dept. in quarantine..Reid, Crawford & Knowling.
My birthday. Congrats from young Mac II
*This would have been his 34th birthday. British Columbia Death Registrations record shows date of birth as February 24th, not the 23rd.. He also mentions his birthday being on the 24th in previous diary entries.
No entry.
*During this period the Germans were preparing to withdraw to the new Hindenburg Line. During the withdrawal the Germans were to implement a ‘scorched earth’ policy whereby nothing of possible use to the Allies was to be left standing. Houses were destroyed, road junctions were mined, wells were filled in (some may even have been poisoned), even fruit trees were cut down to prevent them being used as a source of food.
Henderson & Bajus go to Hospl. They have fevers.
No entry.
– thaw
Very busy with secret maps “pour le grand avance”.
We make considerable gains in the Ancre. Capture 761 prisoners & 12 officers.
*The Ancre is a river of Picardy, France. Rising at Miraumont, a hamlet near the town of Albert, it flows into the Somme at Corbie. The Battle of the Ancre, 13–18 November, was the final large British attack of the Battle of the Somme in 1916, before winter. After the Battle of the Ancre , British attacks on the Somme front were stopped by the weather. During the rest of 1916 and early January 1917, military operations by both sides were mostly restricted to survival in the rain, snow, fog, mud fields, waterlogged trenches and shell-holes. British operations on the Ancre from 10 January – 22 February 1917, forced the Germans back 5 miles (8.0 km) on a 4 miles (6.4 km) front, and eventually took 5,284 prisoners. On 22/23 February the Germans fell back another 3 miles (4.8 km), soon resulting in their complete withdrawal from the region.
(www.wikipedia.com)
– thaw
I speak to Capt. W. re sergeancy. He concurs. We send all maps other than secret to 1st Army (Maps).
– thaw
I get permission to go to Bethune via Bruay. Make many purchases & return to Divion via Chocques, Marles-les Mines.
I arrange to sleep with Cpl. Harper @ “Magasin” in Divion.
*Divion is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.
No entry…..
Stay all night at Bois d’Alleux, Mount St. Eloy. The boys are given an extra ration of rum & – Oh! be joyful.
At 8 am I start out on bike for Division near Bruay. Meet Cpl. Harper & have dinner @ Houdain & later – tea in Bruay.
*Introduced in the winter of 1914, the rum ration was initially given to soldiers to combat the chill and damp of the trenches. In the front line, rum was issued twice a day – at dawn and at dusk. A rum jar held 1 gallon – enough for 64 men. Each man got approximately one third of a pint each week. On the side of the jar were stamped the intiials “S.R.D.” thought to stand for “Service Rations Depot” or “Service Reserve Depot”. Soldiers however, said they stood for “Seldom Reaches Destination”, “Soon Runs Dry” and ”Seldom Rarely Delivers”.
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