Letters From the Trenches: A Soldier of the Great War (14 page)
Read Letters From the Trenches: A Soldier of the Great War Online
Authors: Bill Lamin
Tags: #World War I, #Autobiography, #Personal Memoirs
What a journey it must have been for those men. Travelling down the beautiful Rhône Valley and along the Côte d’Azur through Cannes and Nice must have been a whole new
adventure, offering unbelievable scenery and a vastly different climate. Not surprisingly, ‘the men were interested throughout the journey’! ‘Halts repas’ is a misspelling
of the French haltes repas, which literally translates as ‘meal stops’. Morale would have been given a boost by the local support as they travelled. (Leaving the horrors of Flanders
would have already given it a significant boost. Surely the new front couldn’t be as terrible as the Ypres Salient?) The train would steam for a few hours, occasionally stopping, starting
again, repeated day after day. It would not have been an especially comfortable journey, and slow even by the standards of troop trains, but it was an improvement on the soldiers’ way of life
in Flanders, as well as a break from the demanding activities at the front or in the training areas. The men might have had an idea of where and what they were heading for, but there was no great
tradition in the British Army of keeping the troops informed about anything.
During one of the breaks in the journey, the troops must have been given the opportunity to buy from local shops. Harry bought a postcard and, on arrival at the end of the rail journey, was able
to write a short note to Jack. Tortona, pictured on the card, is around a hundred miles (160km) short of Mantua and their journey’s end.
Harry’s postcard to Jack, bought in Tortona and sent when the battalion reached its destination.
Nov 15th 1917
Dear Jack
I am going on all right, will write as soon as possible. Hope the wedding
[Jack’s to Agnes; see Chapter 1]
comes off alright. Write and tell Ethel you have
heard from me.
Love Harry
Having arrived in Italy, the division started on the long march to the front line, beginning, for Harry’s battalion, with a short march to new billets at Ceresa. Things had grown a good
deal more comfortable, as the war diary reports, rather less tersely than usual:
16 to 18
[November]
Billeted in good billets at CERESA, where satisfactory training was carried out. On the 18th a church parade was held. Whilst in the area the
condition of the men was good, although the sick parades were a little larger than usual several men suffering with boils.
19 The Division commenced its march forward to concentration area. The BN moved off at 8.30 am by march route to SUSANO CORTA CHIAVICHE (about 12 miles
[20km]
)
arriving in Billets at 3.30 pm. The marching was good, no men falling out.
20 The march was resumed at 7 am to NIGARA (8 miles
[13km]
) the Bn in Billets by 11am. The high standard of marching was still maintained and very few men had
blistered feet.
21 Bn moved off at 6.30 am to LENAGO (12 miles
[20km]
), arriving in Billets at 3 pm. The marching was again good, and the transport was very clean &
smart.
22 Bn moved off at 7 am to Noventa (16 miles
[26km]
) arriving in Billets at 1430 pm. The men marched very well and not a man fell out. Several men’s feet
were blistered.
23 The march was resumed at 9 am to PONT du BARBARANO (7 miles
[11km]
) and the Bn was in Billets by 1 pm.
Because the distance marched on the 23rd was one of the shorter ones, and the men were in billets by lunchtime, Harry had the chance to write a short letter home.
Nov 23rd 1917
Dear Kate.
Just a line to let you know I’m going on all right. I should be pleased if you could send some powder the next time you write the cake was grand you sent. I hope
you get on all right with your fresh job. my address is the same only put Italy instead of France. Would be pleased if you could write once a week if it was only a line will write again as soon
as possible.
With best love
Harry
Then they were off again, the war diary still solemnly recording the distances marched each day:
24 At 7 am the Bn moved off to ST MARIA (10 miles
[16km]
), arriving there at 1 pm.
25 Moved off at 7am to ISOLA di CARTURO (6½ miles
[10km]
) and in Billets by 11 am. During the last three days the march discipline was still very good, and
no men fell out. The men were in good condition and their feet were sound.
The march having ended in the morning, Harry was able to write another letter:
25 November 1917
Dear Jack
I hope you are getting on alright as I am in good health at present except bad feet after a lot of marching. My address is the same as usual, except you must put Italy
instead of France. When you write I should be glad if you would send an envelope and paper. I have had no white bread lately we have been on Italian rashing
[rations]
would be glad if
you could send me a parcel I have not had any for weeks. Let me know how you are getting on. I think Mr. Thomas’s son is in the same division as we are. if so he has come to Italy too. I
shall be glad to get home again to see you all. Willie is getting on well and gets a big boy they are all in good health and dad is about the same. I think he is a marvellous fellow. We have
seen some fine scenery on our travels. We were 4 or 5 days in the train it is alright down south of France and very pretty. Write as soon as possible
with best love
Harry
And still the battalion marched:
26 & 27 inspections were held on the 26th & training resumed the following day. The sick parades were large, the chief complaint being blistered feet, but the
rest benefitted the men greatly.
28 The march resumed at 8am to ISOLA ROMOLO (12 miles
[20km]
), the Bn arriving in Billets by 4pm.
29 At 9am Bn moved off to SONTREIA (7 miles
[11km]
) and were in Billets by 12 noon. The march discipline throughout the march was excellent, and very few men were
carried on the Ambulance – no men fell out throughout the march.
30 Bn in Billets - the C.O. inspected Companies in Drill order and was satisfied with the smart appearance of the Bn. The majority of the men were bathed.
This was an army moving on foot in 1917. The heavy equipment would be transported by horse-drawn general-service wagon and motor lorry. The men would march as a body, generally in companies,
carrying their full military equipment. Day after day the condition of feet, particularly, would deteriorate through ill-fitting boots and poor-quality, badly (and rarely) washed socks. Harry had
been marching for over a week when he asked Kate for powder, presumably talcum powder for his feet, and to ease chafing where his uniform rubbed against his skin.
The total distance marched by the battalion was almost 110 miles (175km). The distances don’t sound too demanding in today’s terms, but with few exceptions the men would have been
carrying their normal equipment and rifles, all of which would weigh up to 65 pounds (30kg). On top of this, they were not well fed and had just spent six months in the Flanders sector of the
Western Front. Nor was their kit and equipment ideal for long-distance marching, and they would have suffered much chafing, blistering and general discomfort. Even so, it was still a considerable
improvement over life in the trenches around Ypres.
They were not to be in Sontreia for long, but while there continued with training, and drill also made a no doubt unwelcome reappearance:
1st
[December]
battalion in billets at SONTREIA. Company training in Running Drill, Musketry: Bayonet fighting, Arms Drill and Company Drill was continued
with.
Harry found time to write to Jack on the same day:
Dec 1st 1917
Dear Jack
I have just received a small packet from you and was very pleased with it. It was a good job it was something that would keep as it was dated Nov 8th. I have also
received a letter Nov 14th. The lady you are marrying I can remember quite well. Well I hope you are married by now. I can remember two lady teachers Miss James and a Miss Meredith who were at
East Oxford. We have had some good marches this last fortnight which I should have enjoyed better had we not quite so much to carry. The weather has been just right for marching the roads are
very level out here you can see all the big hills or mountains in the distance with snow on them the scenery would be grand in summer time. I am pleased they are going on all right at home and
that you are keeping well. glad to hear about Kate. I think it is very good of them to buy you a present worth about £10 it should be a good one. We are getting on better for food now but
very short of bread. Don’t forget to put Italy instead of France I hope you have a Merry xmas and a Happy new year. I’m going to try to get a card to send you for Christmas. Write
back as soon as you can and don’t forget.
Yours Harry
A wedding present costing £10 is remarkably generous. At today’s values £10 in 1917 would be worth well over £500. Yet the only member of the family earning a regular
wage would seem to be Kate (Jack would have been paid a stipend by the Church). I would love to know what they actually spent the money on, and who contributed, but, sadly, the details have long
since been forgotten.
On the following day, the 9th York and Lancasters completed their journey: ‘2nd [December] Battalion moved off at 11 A.M. and marched to billets at BARCON arriving there at 2.40
P.M.’ This was a decent march of around eight miles (13km), and was followed by a seven-mile march to the front line on the River Piave.
It had taken just over three weeks to relocate the 23rd Division more than a thousand miles to another country, a fresh climate and, as we shall see, to a very different fighting
environment.
CHAPTER 8
THE PIAVE RIVER DEFENCE LINE
O
N
5 D
ECEMBER
1917 the 9th Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment took its place supporting the front line that followed the
southern bank of the Piave River. The river rises in the Dolomites and flows south-south-west before turning south-eastwards to flow into the Gulf of Venice some twenty miles north-east of that
city. It was along this roughly west-to-east length of the river that the Austro-Hungarian advance following the Italian rout at Caporetto was finally halted. The countryside, to Harry and his
comrades, would be very different from the area around Ypres, with much green vegetation and magnificent views. To the south-east, Venice and the Adriatic Sea were less than thirty miles away; to
the north, the foothills of the Dolomite Mountains would be clearly visible.
The next four months were spent on the Piave front, supporting the defensive effort. Most of the time was spent in the vicinity of Montebelluna, about twelve miles (20km) north-east of Treviso
at the foot of the Montella high ground, towards the centre of the plain and twenty-five miles (40km) or so due north of Venice. In the middle of February there was two-day march to a new location,
still on the Piave front, but much closer to the mountains. After nine days there, during which scouts from the battalion actually climbed the nearby mountain, they set off and marched the
twenty-five miles (40km) back to Montebelluna. In the Second World War this would have been viewed as a typical army SNAFU (Situation Normal, All Fouled Up – the polite version).
