Walter Draycott’s Great War Chronicle

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Monday 15 January 1917

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Ration Bully beef and bread. No fresh meat obtainable but all thankful for what comes.

A terrific bombardment opens up suddenly on our left. Lasts for three hours.

One of our PPs Pte. Kerr wounded in head yesterday & shot dead (thru head) today.

*The main staple in the trenches was corned beef, or bully beef: cooked, preserved, tinned meat, chiefly from Argentina. The men were advised to pierce the tin before fully opening them. If they hissed, they had gone off. When British solders traded bully beef with the French their reaction to the contents of the tins was that it was ‘singe’, or monkey. (www.telegraph.co.uk)

 

Sunday 14 January 1917

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I go up to the craters. Very muddy and in some places it’s 3 feet deep.  I go overland in full view of the enemy into Watling Crater.  Risky but information is necessary.

In afternoon to 4th Div. front.

Enemy shell Bde. Hdqts. A shell burst only 20 feet from here.  He is using an old [Paltim] shell and not the Field gun [unist…..].  No damage done.

*As bombs rained down on the Western Front, thousands of craters opened up on the battlefields. Meteorites had created the occasional crater before, but large-scale bombing was a new phenomenon on earth, which two geographers (Joseph Hupy & Randall Schaetzl) have called “bombturbation.” Bombs actually shattered bedrock and created the bizarre, dimpled landscape of modern day Verdun. Artillery shells could blast craters up to 30 feet wide and many feet deep. Land mines were even more powerful, creating holes up to 160 feet deep. Curiously, artillery shells did more damage to the ground in WWI than WWII in the same area. That’s because early artillery shells were designed to explode on impact, but more advanced detonators during WWII allowed shells to explode in the air.  (www.gizmodo.com)

Saturday 13 January 1917

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Capt. H.M. Wallis with Major Willet of R.C.R. go into No Man’s land & capture a German. Previous to this a German raiding party had come over and captured one of our men (an American Legion man).

*Most commonly associated with the First World War the phrase “no man’s land” actually dates back until at least the 14th century.  Its meaning was clear to all sides: no man’s land represented the area of ground between opposing armies – in this case, between trenches. For newly arrived novice soldiers No Man’s Land held a certain allure.  Such troops were cautioned against a natural inclination to peer over the parapet of the trench into No Man’s Land.  Many men died on their first day in the trenches as a consequence of a precisely aimed sniper’s bullet. During this period the area of No Man’s Land scarcely varied although its width would vary widely from sector to sector, from one kilometre to as little as a few hundred yards (as at Vimy Ridge for example).  In the latter instance troops would be able to overhear conversation from their opposing trenches or readily lob grenades into their midst. (www.firstworldwar.com)

Wednesday 10 January 1917

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Wednesday 10 January 1917

Gas attack on our left by the enemy.

Cold & misty rain.

I go to Neuville St. Vaast to survey north of the village, a piece of ground with many trenches over it.

Enemy busy with T. Mortars. Our Stokes guns reply vigorously.  I make my survey & on way back visit P.P.C.L.I. H.Qtr. where I learn from Regtl. Sergt. Major Jordon that I’ve been “Mentioned in Dispatches”.  It appeared in Regtl. Orders.

 

*Considered uncivilised prior to World War One, the development and use of poison gas was necessitated by the requirement of wartime armies to find new ways of overcoming the stalemate of unexpected trench warfare. Although it is popularly believed that the German army was the first to use gas it was in fact initially deployed by the French.  In the first month of the war, August 1914, they fired tear-gas grenades (xylyl bromide) against the Germans.  Nevertheless the German army was the first to give serious study to the development of chemical weapons and the first to use it on a large scale. (www.firstworldwar.com)

*Mention in Dispatches is awarded for valiant conduct, devotion to duty or other distinguished service. During the First World War, 5467 MIDs were awarded to Canadians. (www.forces.gc.ca)

Tuesday 9 January 1917

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Heavy bombardment on our left by us and the enemy. Our heavies reply vigorously.

I go to Aubigny on bicycle, which I stole, for drawing material, etc. Call at Division and get Chinese white.  Sergt. i/c Draughting gets Meritorious Service Medal.  (Sergt. Lewis)

Whole journey was 30 Kilometres. Many German prisoners working on road.  Heavy wet mist & later rain.  I got soaked.

*The Meritorious Service Medal during WW1 was a British honour. The Canadian MSM was instituted for military service in 1984 and for civilian service in 1991.  (www.forces.gc.ca) In 1916, the British MSM was awarded to all ranks: “duly recommended for the grant in respect of gallant conduct in the performance of military duty otherwise than in action against the enemy, or in saving, or attempting to save the life of an officer or soldier, or for devotion to duty in a theatre of war.” (www.veterans.gc.ca)

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